In the sixth round of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, Lando Norris of McLaren achieved an emotional victory in Formula 1. Max Verstappen, the triple world champion of Red Bull, secured second place, while Charles Leclerc of Ferrari finished third.
Verstappen’s impressive performance in winning four out of the previous five races and claiming six consecutive pole positions raised concerns that his dominance was discouraging viewership. This came after a surge of interest sparked by the Netflix docu-series ‘Drive to Survive’.
The Miami Grand Prix in 2022 held the previous record for the highest U.S. television audience, with 2.6 million viewers. Miami now holds the top three positions for Formula One’s live U.S. television audiences, as the 2023 race attracted 2.1 million viewers.
ESPN reported that their coverage of the Saturday Sprint Race in Miami garnered an average of 946,000 viewers. This is the largest audience for this format since sprints were introduced in 2021. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin)