Formula 1 team principals have hailed the world championship’s new United States broadcasting deal with Apple TV, which they believe can unlock even more potential in America.
Apple’s F1 deal was announced on Friday, with the brand taking over from ESPN from 2026 onwards on the back of its successful F1 movie, which was released last June.
Autosport understands the deal is worth some $140million a year. Apple will make all sessions available to Apple TV subscribers in English and Spanish – which is the main language spoken by 14% of the population, equating to over 42 million people.
F1 has focused on its American development ever since its takeover by US-based Liberty Media in 2017, with three grands prix now on the calendar.
Although the championship has more brand recognition now, its American TV audience growth has been modest – current broadcaster ESPN reports 1.4 million viewers on average for this season’s races, up from its previous record three years ago, 1.21 million.
Apple nevertheless targets “exponential” growth with this new deal, and F1 team bosses believe the brand is capable of making it happen.
“I think it's very realistic,” McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said. “I think it'll take time. They had a fantastic movie, which I think kind of whet their appetite, if you'd like. If you think about the reach of the different platforms they have and the technology that they have – and we’re in a very technology-driven sport – there’s a lot of enthusiasm.
“Eddy Cue [Apple’s senior vice president of services], who's one of the big bosses there, has a lot of passion for Formula 1. That always helps. That passion drives an organisation forward.
“So, I’m quite excited knowing all the different applications they have in which they can deploy Formula 1 – not just at the race weekend, but as they said earlier, kind of 24/7 around all their different channels and technologies.”
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies concurred: “On the same line here, really – we think it's realistic. If you speak with them, you will probably leave the room also thinking that it's realistic.
“The reach is going to be incredible, and it's exciting for the teams. We have been trying to engage with the US fan base for so many years, and we feel it has picked up so well in the last few years. And then suddenly you discover a completely new land and new potentials with this deal with Apple.”
Meanwhile, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff believes the deal will substantially boost F1 “not only in the United States, but also all around the world”.
“Apple News is the biggest news feed,” Wolff claimed, though this is not as clear-cut as the Austrian makes it sound, with Google a strong challenger in terms of audience, “and when you have the buy-in from senior leaders, like Eddy and his people, then we’re in a good place.
“It doesn't go much better than Apple, like Zak said, throughout the devices – watches, phones – that everybody has, and I believe this is a great success for Formula 1 to have that deal. And I believe also for Apple, it's going to yield the results they expect.”
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