F1 Enjoys increased viewership after disclosing viewing figures for Imola GP

F1 Enjoys increased viewership after disclosing viewing figures for Imola GP

The fans have already been witness to four Grand Prix’s till now in this all-new F1 2022 season. As the FIA had introduced many rule changes for this year, a huge thing to point out is the new marking system for the Sprint Races. According to the regulations, the Sprint winner will now be awarded 8 Championship points, and only the top 8 drivers will get the points. Also, there would be no separate points for the fastest lap.

As there is a lot of Championship points at stake now, the Sprint Races hold more importance in the F1 Championship than ever before. In order to clinch the title of a World Champion, the competing drivers must aim to perform well in the Sprint Races as they can get an 8-point advantage of their rivals do not get any points.

This new rule change has made Formula 1 all the more interesting and now, recent reports suggest that the viewership for this sport has increased manifold because of the Sprint Races. There are three Sprint Races on the 2022 F1 calendar as of now–we just watched the first Sprint weekend of the season in the Imola Grand Prix, and we are yet to get two more in Brazil and in Austria.

F1 acknowledges the Sprint weekend format has helped increase their viewership “significantly” during Imola Grand Prix

Emiglia Romania Grand Prix Sprint Race, 2022
Emiglia Romania Grand Prix Sprint Race, 2022

While some people might only prefer the conventional format of racing, the newer audience is asking for some exciting changes to F1 and they have welcomed the Sprint format with arms wide open. After last weekend’s Sprint event in the Imola Grand Prix, we will get another Sprint race in Interlagos. Experts expect increased viewership in that too. And the season’s last event would be in Austria’s Red Bull Circuit.

In the Imola Grand Prix, the viewership numbers from eight countries–Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom–suggest that there has been 43% increase in the average audience in these countries. Even the qualifying session has increased by 14%.

As the Imola Grand Prix is famous for the Italian Tifosi who overwhelmingly cheer for Ferrari to win the Grand Prix in their home country, F1 recorded a “significant growth” in the Italian viewers with 1.9 million more people tuning in to watch the Imola Grand Prix, an increase of 18%.

Read More: “We’ve been very unlucky” : Fernando Alonso disappointed by poor start to the season