F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix draws large audience despite 1 a.m. ET start time

Despite starting in the wee hours of the morning on the East Coast, Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix was a hit for viewers.

Per an ESPN release, the race averaged 1.3 million viewers. That’s good for the third-most-watched race of the season on cable and sixth-most watched overall.

It also was F1’s most-watched race since June’s Canadian Grand Prix, a 12-race streak featuring nine races outside of the Americas.

The race was also a hit on ESPN+, checking in as the streamer’s second-most-watched race ever behind the Miami Grand Prix in May. That May Miami race is the second-most-watched F1 race in US history.

Nine of the top ten markets for the Las Vegas Grand Prix were west of the Mississippi, led by the host market (a 7.4 local rating). Los Angeles, the country’s second-largest media market, was second with a 1.5. Tulsa (1.3) and Seattle (1.2) followed, while Phoenix, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco all drew a 1.1 locally. Dallas and Greenville/Spartanburg, the one East Coast market in the top ten, drew a 0.9 rating.

Qualifying on Friday morning also drew a strong audience. 626,000 viewers watched the 75 minutes of qualifying, which began at 2:54 a.m. ET.

F1 has just one race left on the calendar, Sunday morning’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix beginning at 7:55 a.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+. Heading into that final race, the 2023 F1 season is averaging 1.12 million viewers, behind last year’s full-season average of 1.21 million viewers but still on track to be the second-most-watched F1 season in the U.S.

[ESPN]