F1 Rumor: Did American fans cause Drive-to-Survive plummet?

American F1 fans were so pissed off that the Andretti-Cadillac bid to enter F1 was rejected, we expected TV and Drive-To-Survive viewership to plummet in 2024 in the USA.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

The first indications that American fans are going to tune out F1 this year comes from the early Drive-To-Survive viewership numbers.

Netflix’s Drive-To-Survive has lost 23.2% of its viewers after the sixth season arrived on the streaming service 5 days ago.

Figures released by Netflix show that 2.9 million viewers watched it during the first three days, a drop of 23.2% from the previous year.

Drive-To-Survive has no doubt had a huge impact on F1 with more American fans flocking to the series but with the rejection of Andretti-Cadillac many vowed to never watch F1 again.

As first reported by F1 broadcasting journalist Dave Nelson on twitter, 23.2% fewer people tuned in to watch the series in its first few days of release.

Of those that did, there was a sharp drop-off with 21.8 million hours consumed compared to the 25.76 million hours of last year, a 15.4% fall.

Drive-to-Survive was extremely popular with fans new to the sport. The amusing storylines, hair-raising writing, and cinematic shots of the races attracted new watchers. As the show has progressed with newer seasons, the overall ratings have dropped. Season 1, for example, was rated 92% on Rotten Tomatoes but the latest one was rated only 60%.

One of the biggest achievements that F1 has had with the release of the show is that it gained popularity in the US. With the rejection of American team Andretti-Cadillac, Formula 1 may just erased all those gains.

We do not yet have the breakdown of American viewership vs. the rest of the world, hence for now, this article is classified as a ‘rumor.’

If this rumor turns out to be true, FOM will learn the error of their ways directly through their pocketbook.