The ‘Max Verstappen dominance is making F1 boring’ narrative has met yet another reality check. Liberty Media, the commercial rights holder of Formula 1, has reported a steep rise in Q1 revenues. While disclosing the figures, F1 boss Stefano Domenicali also revealed the reasons behind the increase in revenue. Domenicali also highlighted how the sport has seen an “amplification of our fan base”.
In 2023, until Q1, F1 reported revenue figures of $381 million. Until the first quarter of the year, the sport had hosted just two races. That figure has come up to $553 million, a jump of $172 million on last year’s revenue. The reason for the soaring revenue majorly comes down to one factor.
Liberty Media paid the 10 Formula 1 teams $163 million as “team payments” in Q1 of 2024.
Other Q1 results released by Liberty Media towards Formula 1:
(in million, vs. Q1 2023)
Total revenue: $553 (vs. $381, +45%)
No. of races: 3 (vs. 2)Team payments (2023): $112 (-46%)#F1 pic.twitter.com/4DTInKMzkE
— Kunal Shah (@kunalashah) May 8, 2024
That factor is an added race. Formula 1 hosted three races in the first quarter of 2024 as compared to just two in 2023. In 2024, the Australian GP featured between 22-24 March.
Liberty Media highlighted the growth in F1’s primary revenue sources from race promotions, media rights, and sponsorships. All of those contributed majorly through an extra race over last year.
One, however, cannot ignore the addition to the fan base. While the recently concluded Miami GP was held after the conclusion of Q1, it broke all American records for F1 viewership. The change in tide is a stern reminder that despite Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s dominance, the sport is growing in all aspects.
2024 sees an influx of competition against Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen is undoubtedly still a favorite to win the championship in 2024. However, Red Bull has already lost more races in just six Grands Prix than it did in 2023. The loss to Carlos Sainz in Australia may well go down to the bad luck of the Dutchman’s brakes catching fire, but Lando Norris won the Miami GP on merit.
The entire Miami GP race weekend was full of uncertainties. Arguably, no team managed to find the perfect tire compound to match the window they were operating in.
Verstappen himself put up a perplexed front after qualifying on pole as his lap was far from satisfactory. He later encountered grip issues which Norris took complete advantage of to register his maiden win in 110 races.
Lando Norris is the 21st British driver to win an F1 race .
Long time overdue! He must have been absolutely buzzing standing on that podium #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/C9NQhtmWyi
— Syed (@DrakesWriter1) May 5, 2024
All these factors contributed to the unprecedented viewership numbers the race recorded. The 2024 Miami GP broke the 2022 Miami GP’s record of highest-recorded viewership numbers.
The 2024 iteration of the Floridian race recorded a peak viewership of 3.6 million. On average, the race saw 3.1 million views. In comparison, the 2022 race recorded an average of 2.6 million views.
