Apple TV will be the exclusive broadcaster for Formula One in the United States this season, carrying live coverage of all 24 rounds of the championship, the company said. As part of arrangements around F1 content, Netflix will carry the Canadian Grand Prix live to U.S. audiences in May and season eight of its documentary series Drive to Survive will be made available for streaming on Apple TV.
The move marks a shift in U.S. rights that has ESPN - operated by Walt Disney - handing over exclusive live coverage to Apple. Media reports last year indicated that Netflix had been one of the contenders for U.S. broadcasting rights, but Apple has secured the season package.
Season eight of Drive to Survive, which includes exclusive behind-the-scenes access that follows the sport through the 2025 Formula One campaign won by McLaren and Lando Norris, is scheduled to launch globally on Friday. The series will be accessible to viewers on Apple TV under the new arrangement.
Formula One’s new race calendar begins in Australia on March 8 and includes three rounds in the United States. Against that backdrop, Apple’s Senior Vice-President of Services, Eddy Cue, told reporters on a video call that the company plans to make select races and some practice sessions available for free to viewers during the season, although he did not lay out which events or sessions would be offered without charge.
"We look at F1 and Apple TV as a true partnership where we’re going to amplify this sport across all our Apple services," Cue said. "Netflix, I think, has played a pivotal role in growing F1 since the launch of ’Drive to Survive’ and we’re thrilled to make F1 content more broadly available to new and existing U.S. fans on both Netflix and Apple TV."
Formula One’s Chief Media Rights and Broadcast officer Ian Holmes reflected on the sport’s U.S. trajectory and the change in broadcast partner. He said ESPN had elevated coverage in the important U.S. market and described the collaboration with Apple as "the next big iteration." Holmes also noted a shift in the sport’s demographic in the United States.
"I’d say we are probably the only sport in the world whose audience is getting younger and more female skewed, and that couldn’t be more represented than currently in the U.S.," Holmes said.
The arrangement results in a distribution split in the U.S.: Apple TV will be the home for live race coverage across the full calendar while Netflix will retain a role by streaming selected live content and making its flagship documentary series available on Apple’s platform. Apple framed the agreement as a partnership intended to expand the sport’s reach across Apple services, while acknowledging Netflix’s contribution to F1’s rising profile since Drive to Survive debuted.
Context and implications
Under the current structure, U.S. viewers will access live F1 coverage exclusively through Apple TV, with Netflix carrying at least one live round in May and providing the latest season of its behind-the-scenes series. The season’s opener in Australia and the inclusion of three U.S. races on the calendar set the stage for how the two streaming platforms will coordinate rights and promotional exposure for the sport across the year.