Formula E announces record-breaking viewership following Mexico City E-Prix

Written by Jacob Awcock, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri

Formula E has announced that the Mexico City E-Prix saw a record-breaking audience of 10.5 million on CBS, a larger viewership than the majority of F1 races in the past two seasons, viewed in the US. 

Formula E's Mexico City E-Prix became the most viewed race in the series | Credit - Joe Portlock

Compared to the inaugural running of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the US had an overall audience 80% higher for the Mexico City E-Prix. This was also the highest of a single weekend in Formula E history and reflects the growing popularity of the all-electric series. 

This pattern was similar in the UK, which saw a 120% increase in like-for-like viewership for the São Paulo E-Prix, when compared to the same race last season.

This comes after Formula E re-introduced a fresh free-to-air deal with ITV for the UK this season, after last season required viewers to subscribe to TNT Sport in order to watch the races. 

Elsewhere, Formula E’s growth was still prevalent as viewership across Europe surged: Germany saw a 65% increase and France a 64% increase.

Mexico witnessed a 10% increase for the country’s home E-Prix, and rumours of Sergio Perez possibly lining up on the grid will only increase the amount of people eager to watch the all-electric series.

In total, the opening round in Brazil attracted an audience of 40 million viewers, making it the most-viewed opening round and one of the most watched races in the series’ history. These figures prove spectacular, as the category only now completes a decade of existence. 

Aarti Dabas, Chief Media Officer of Formula E said: “This strong start to the 11th season of our championship, with our new and existing broadcast partnership delivering record audiences is a testament to our accelerated fan growth and exciting racing spectacle put on by our elite drivers in their new cutting edge GEN3 Evo cars.”

“With 14 more races to come, we are firmly on track to deliver our biggest season ever and take our racing spectacle to more fans than ever before.”

Formula E heads to the Saudi desert for the inaugural Jeddah E-Prix, and it waits to be seen if viewership rises further for the season’s first double-header. The races will take place on Friday, February 14th, and Saturday, February, 15th, with Pit Boost set to debut in one race of the double-header.