The staggering numbers behind the meteoric rise of F1

F1 has experienced significant growth since 2018, developing into one of the leading and most popular global sports. Ahead of the 2025 season resuming at the Dutch Grand Prix, the championship has outlined the key metrics behind its boom, the catalyst of which was the Netflix docu-series Drive to Survive , which first aired in 2019. That was part of a wider strategy implemented by Liberty Media, which purchased the championship in 2017. Headline figures behind Formula 1's strong upward trajectory show a 50 percent increase in race attendance over the first 14 rounds of the campaign, when compared to the same period in 2018, rising from 2.6 million to 3.9 million, which is a record for the championship. 11 of the 14 events that comprised the first part of the season were sold out, with attendance records at six of those. The Australian Grand Prix and British Grand Prix saw figures of 465,000 and 500,000, respectively, over the rounds in Melbourne and Silverstone. Meanwhile, the Spanish, Canadian, Austrian and Belgian grands prix each cleared the 300,000 mark. fanbase and social media growth This has been built on sustained growth in the fanbase over the past seven years and ever-expanding social media engagement. At 827 million, F1's global fanbase makes it the world's most popular annual sporting series. That figure has increased 12 percent year-on-year and is up 63 percent since 2018. F1's social media footprint is significantly larger, with 97.4 million followers by the end of 2024, a number far greater than the 18.7 million seen in 2018. The fanbase is also getting younger and more female. 43 percent of fans are now under 35 years of age, up from 30 percent seven years ago, and 42 percent are women, five percent higher than in 2018. It also represents a growth of 43 million female fans year-on-year. As the sport has gone from strength to strength, the calendar and the length of contract extensions for race renewals has reflected that growth. The majority of the schedule is now set into the 2030s, with both the Miami and Austrian grands prix now on deals that run until 2041. Check out some of the key statistics behind F1's growth below.