Netflix will broadcast the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix live to U.S. audiences in May as part of an agreement that would make season eight of its hit documentary series ‘Drive to Survive’ available for streaming on Apple TV. This season, Apple TV will replace Walt Disney’s ESPN as the exclusive Formula One broadcaster in the United States, providing live coverage of all 24 rounds.
According to media sources from February of last year, streaming behemoth Netflix was also a contender for broadcasting rights in the United States. Season eight of ‘Drive to Survive’, which includes unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the 2025 Formula One campaign won by McLaren and Lando Norris, premieres globally on Friday. The 2019 Formula One season, which includes three rounds in the United States, begins in Australia on March 8.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services, informed reporters on a video call that select races and practice sessions would be made available for free throughout the season, but did not provide any details. “We look at F1 and Apple TV as a true partnership where we’re going to amplify this sport across all our Apple services,” he told me. “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.”
“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.,” he noted. “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 can pursue.”
