<figure>
Liberty Media chief executive Derek Chang says Formula 1’s audience can no longer be measured simply by how many people watch every Grand Prix.
Speaking at an Axios and The Race Media event in Austin, Chang described a fan base that follows the championship through highlights, previews, social media and material about life away from the track.
“You no longer think about F1 as sort of something that you’ve got to go to every race or watch every race on television to be a fan right now,” he said.
Chang said 60 percent of F1’s fans engage with the sport daily, even though races occupy only a small part of the calendar. It is Liberty’s figure, rather than an independently audited measure of the television audience.
His argument was that following Formula 1 now includes activity between races as well as watching the racing itself. That helps explain why the championship and its commercial partners invest in content that reaches people outside a live broadcast.
The remarks came as Chang defended the broader value of F1’s relationship with Apple, emphasizing the distribution opportunities available across its products and services.
For regular viewers, the race remains the central attraction. Liberty is also pursuing people whose interest may begin with a driver, a short video or a partnership and then develop into a closer relationship with the championship.
That makes engagement a useful commercial measure, but it answers a different question from race viewership. The challenge for Formula 1 is to grow both.
