Oh, darling, did you hear the news? Lando Norris’s spectacular maiden victory in Formula 1 has set the record straight and left jaws dropped all over the world. ABC’s broadcast of this historic moment attracted an average audience of 3.1 million viewers, darling! Can you believe it? That beats the previous record of 2.6 million that watched the inaugural Miami event in 2022. And to add a cherry on top, it marks a whopping 48% uptick in viewership compared to last year’s Miami event. The world simply can’t get enough of the charm and charisma that Lando Norris brings to the track.

Now, we all know that the late afternoon timing of the Miami event may not have been the most convenient for our European and Asian friends, but oh honey, it certainly did wonders for capturing eyeballs in the good ol’ US of A. It’s no wonder that the races in Miami are now considered the three most viewed in the country’s history. Move over Super Bowl, Lando Norris is here to steal the show!

And let’s not forget the delightful Saturday sprint race that was broadcast on ESPN. It attracted a jaw-dropping 946,000 viewers, darling! That’s the largest US audience for a sprint race since the format was introduced in 2021. And as if that wasn’t enough, the official qualifying round on Saturday drew an audience of 625,000. Clearly, the American audience just can’t get enough of the high-octane drama that F1 brings to the table.

But wait, there’s more drama to unfold. The start of the F1 season had its fair share of twists and turns in terms of viewership. The season-opener in Bahrain saw a slight dip with 1.12 million viewers, down from 1.31 million in 2023. And the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? Well, darling, it posted a 40% drop in viewership year on year. It had 920,000 viewers compared to the 1.523 million who were glued to their screens during the 2023 race. It seems the American audience knows where the real action is!

And oh, my stars, the Chinese Grand Prix aired at the ungodly hour of 3 am Eastern Time, drawing just 626,000 viewers. But fear not, darling, for this was a significant improvement from the 268,000 viewers who watched the previous Shanghai race in 2019. F1 is truly taking the world by storm, one race at a time.

With F1 pulling out all the stops to increase its audience in Miami, a sell-out crowd of 270,000 last weekend showed a strong appetite for grand prix racing. Even superstar driver Daniel Ricciardo couldn’t help but compare the Miami GP to the hype surrounding the Super Bowl. It’s like a whole week of festivities leading up to the main event, darling. The buzz is palpable, the excitement is electric, and the glamour is simply unmatched.

«It feels like, and I’m not trying to say it’s the Super Bowl, but Super Bowl week,» Ricciardo remarked. «It’s like a whole week of things. I feel our weeks have built out now, not to the extent of a Super Bowl week, but it’s getting there with events and people are interested. It’s from a Wednesday onwards, and it’s not just the Sunday that they’re excited for the race. We had a really good crowd, a lot of young people I feel, and a lot of new audience coming in. So, it’s good to grow the sport for sure.»