Apple TV launches exclusive F1 era with bold US broadcast vision

Apple TV’s exclusive F1 coverage deal in the United States begins with next week’s Australian Grand Prix, with the broadcaster revealing extra details of what subscribers can expect.

The US television rights for Formula 1 have moved from ESPN to Apple TV, with a five-year exclusivity deal announced in October 2025. The deal is said to be worth around $140 million annually, a marked increase from the mooted $85 million Disney paid for the ESPN rights.

Apple TV begins exclusive Formula 1 coverage in United States

Apple TV’s bespoke F1 product is available as a single-tier experience for all subscribers ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, with a dedicated landing page in the streaming app that serves as the home for all F1 broadcast content.

Presented in 4k Dolby Vision with immersive 5.1 audio, Apple believes its compression techniques will make for an unparalleled viewing experience in terms of clarity, while also giving viewers the chance to pick between default TV commentary teams: the two on offer being F1TV’s Alex Jacques and Jolyon Palmer, or Sky F1’s David Croft and Martin Brundle.

Fans will have access to up to 30 feeds during a live session, including data and telemetry, onboard cameras for all 22 drivers, driver tracker, and an exclusive ‘podium channel’ feed that automatically swaps to the onboard cameras of the drivers in the podium places.

“We are incredibly excited for what the future has in store for Formula 1 in the US. This represents what we see as a very major step,” said Ian Holmes, F1’s chief of media rights and broadcast officer, during a media briefing that included PlanetF1.com.

“The US, shall we say, was a challenging environment for us, and I’ve been through all sorts of different iterations over the years, from buying time on CBS many, many years ago and having to sell advertising for one race or two races, through to various other relationships.

“It’s worth calling out the relationship that we have just finished with ESPN, which I think took us to another level.

“But the reason I mentioned that is we feel this new relationship that we have with Apple in the US is the next big iteration for the sport and the US market.

“We’re incredibly excited to team up with Apple. We’re really looking at how we can grow the sport in the US, how we can be relevant, how we can have as much compelling content available for existing fans, older fans, and newer fans.

“There are all sorts of interesting statistics in terms of how we’ve grown, but I think the most important is for the new fan. The new fans that have come in the last few years, the age demographic, and the male-to-female ratio are incredibly interesting.

“I’d say we’re probably the only sport in the world getting younger and more female, and that couldn’t be more represented than currently in the US.

“So we see a relationship with Apple, and the way that Apple is able to offer its content as the most forward-looking approach that we could pursue.”

The ability for Apple to offer live content via a single landing page via the app made it an attractive prospect, Holmes explained, saying, “I think the US fan, they won’t have been served the sport in this way ever before, so just having it all there, but I think it’s also important to touch on the broader ecosystem that Apple is able to offer us.

“This was certainly something that was always an attraction for us throughout the period of time last year, where we were discussing and negotiating, because I think it’s very important in terms of how people want to consume content.

“By that, I mean obviously the opportunity to sit down and watch a live race experience over a two-hour period of time, that’s very important.

“There are a lot of people who will want to consume Formula 1 in that way, but, equally, there are other people who perhaps will have different preferences.

“How Apple can help us show up in so many different ways across so many different products and services, we felt that this was incredibly important in being relevant and always available to our audience and to potential new fans.”

With Apple rolling out F1-related access across its entire ecosystem, such as in-depth mapping of each circuit on Apple Maps, Apple Sports running live leaderboards and information during a race, and Apple News offering curated news sources for readers, Holmes said F1 had collaborated closely with Apple to help develop the vision for the coverage.

“It’s been very informative, certainly, over the last sort of six months, our respective teams have been working incredibly hard to make sure that that offering is as content-heavy, relevant, and interesting as it can be,” he said.

“It’s very apparent that we are working with a different type of company. Content is being streamed and, with that, comes an enormous amount of opportunity to really enhance the product. So that’s extremely important to us.”

Apple to team up with Netflix

Apple’s relationship with F1 has built up through the production of the F1 movie, the blockbuster starring Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem, with Apple’s senior vice-president of services, Eddy Cue, explaining that this led the two sides to get a “lot closer together, appreciate each other, and our abilities to innovate together to come up with new ideas.”

While the product will be rolled out for Apple TV subscribers, there will be select events made available for non-subscribers, with the thinking being that amplification of the sport as a whole will prove beneficial for both parties.

“This really goes beyond just a rights deal. We look at F1 and Apple TV as a true partnership where we’re going to amplify this sport across all of Apple’s services. It’s not just on the Apple TV side,” Cue said.

“We think this is going to be the best way to watch. This will be the highest quality. You’re going to be able to do things with multi-views and all kinds of things that haven’t been done before.”

On top of that, Apple TV has teamed up with streaming giant Netflix.

“We’re going to make the entire season of F1 Drive to Survive, the new season, available to stream right within Apple TV itself, and it drops tonight [Friday] at midnight,” he said.

“In addition to that, we’ve collaborated together so that the Canadian Grand Prix is also going to stream on Apple TV and Netflix in the US.

“Netflix has played a pivotal role in growing F1 since the launch of Drive to Survive, and we’re thrilled to make it more broadly available to new and existing US fans on both Netflix and Apple TV.

“F1 shares our focus on innovation and the fan experience, and we think that’s going to drive a tremendous amount of growth. This is only the beginning of what we can do.

“Our vision for Apple TV has been to deliver to customers incredible stories and content from the most creative storytellers. Without a doubt, this is incredible content. You don’t know what the outcome of the content is, this is unscripted drama at its best, and it’s just starting this year.”

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