The audience and attendance figures for the 2021 F1 season show that the 2021 F1 Esports Series presented by Aramco broke viewership and engagement records. The series ran throughout 2021, achieving over 23 million views, building on the show’s momentum in 2020. Viewers were able to watch the esports show over multiple streaming platforms with a +103% YOY increase in 2021.
According to the Formula1 website, the Pro Championship, the Series’ flagship event, is responsible for a large portion of the views. The Pro Championship received 13.8 million views which accounts for 47 percent of the increase from 2020. Other events such as The F1 Esports Series Challengers and the Pro Exhibition and Preview Show are responsible for the reaming views.
F1 and the Esports Industry
The Esports industry is growing increasingly popular. Esports racer Cem Boukbasi has signed on to the formula 2 team. Additionally, Yesports has secured $2.25 million in seed funding for its Esports platform.
Every event in the 2021 Pro Championship broke the event’s previous viewing record. The Grand Final in December had 4.5 million views which is a 67 percent increase. Additionally, the television audience for the Pro Championship and Preview Show was close to 858k, which is more than triple the total television audience for the previous year.
F1’s social media presence also plays a part in its growing success. In 2021, F1 had over 10.5 million engagements throughout the Pro Championship event across its official Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and Huya channels. This is more than double the engagements in 2020, totaling around 4 million.
John Clark, CEO at Gfinity, was quoted in the F1 press release as saying, “The significant increase in viewership of the F1 Esports Series presented by Aramco is due to a growing passion for virtual racing and the appeal of all things Formula 1 amongst young gamers. The drivers are at the peak of their powers and the racing is competitive and exciting, and they are becoming true social media personalities. This is great news for the future of F1 Esports.”
Jack Brassell is a freelance journalist and aspiring novelist. Jack is a self-proclaimed nerd with a lifelong passion for storytelling. As an author, Jack writes mostly horror and young adult fantasy. Also an avid gamer, she works as the lead news editor at Hardcore Droid. When she isn't writing or playing games, she can often be found binge-watching Parks & Rec or The Office, proudly considering herself to be a cross between Leslie Knope and Pam Beasley.
