Quarter of US adults now follow F1 ‘somewhat closely’, study finds

One-quarter of US adults now follow Formula One somewhat closely, according to a study from CivicScience.

The study, which garnered 1,949 responses around the time of this month’s Canadian Grand Prix, found that 25 per cent of US adults follow the series at least ‘somewhat closely’.

Formula One is particularly popular with fans between the ages of 18 and 29. Some 45 per cent of this age range – commonly known as Gen Z – are reported to follow the series at least ‘somewhat closely’.

As expected, the percentage of those following Formula One declines as the age range increases, but the series will be encouraged by its ability to positively engage younger audiences in the US, a ley growth market for its owners Liberty Media.

While there are no comparative figures with Nascar in the study, the stock car racing series’ decision to begin airing races on Prime Video emphasises its concern around Formula One converting younger viewers in the country.

Interestingly, the majority of fans surveyed (77 per cent) have a more general interest in the series that is not tied to a specific driver or team.

Of course, this can be largely attributed to the success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive in the US. The study from CivicScience backs up this conclusion, too. In it, 42 per cent of Americans who watched behind-the-scenes sports docuseries about a sport they don’t particularly follow said it encouraged them to start watching the sport.

This trend depicting increasing interest is supported by the viewership figures that Formula One has seen over recent years. For example, the 2019 Formula One season averaged 651,619 viewers on ESPN, the first year of the Drive to Survive docuseries. This season is currently averaging 1.39 million viewers on ESPN after the Canadian Grand Prix.

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