F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Sets Viewership Record Despite Novel Free Hack

Posted on: November 26, 2025, 12:09h.

Last updated on: November 26, 2025, 12:09h.

Corey Levitan Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Vegas Myths Busted.

The 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix beat the previous two editions to the viewership finish line. According to Nielsen data released by ESPN, last Saturday’s race averaged 1.5 million viewers, surpassing the inaugural 2023 race’s record of 1.3 million. This was despite a novel free hack exposed on social media.

The F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix kicks off with Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes and Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 battling for track position. (Image: Mark Thompson/Getty)

Scheduling proved decisive. This year’s race began at 8 p.m. PT / 11 p.m. ET, nearly two hours earlier than the 2024 edition, which drew only 905,000 viewers. The adjustment broadened accessibility for US audiences while still catering to international markets. The payoff was immediate: viewership peaked at 1.8 million between 8:45 p.m. and 9 p.m. PT.

Whether attendance showed a similar spike is still a question mark, however, as no official crowd figure has been released by F1 organizers as of Wednesday morning. Attendance had been on a downswing paralleling viewership, with 315K crowding the stands in 2023 and 15K fewer last year.

This will be the final Las Vegas Grand Prix to air on ESPN, ending the sports network’s eight‑year run of F1 coverage. Beginning in 2026, Formula 1 will move to a five‑year exclusive US streaming deal with Apple TV, which will broadcast all races, qualifying sessions and practices.

Points for Creativity

Once a year, Las Vegas’ free traffic cameras — this one from the Strip in front of Caesars Palace — give viewers a better show. (Image: X/@Rebootjayx)

F1 achieved the viewership milestone despite a clever new trend of race viewership. Many fans without subscriptions to pay channels such as ESPN or Sky Sports use a workaround by tapping into public street cameras.

Because the Las Vegas circuit is built on city streets, the race was viewable for free via traffic cameras operated by the Nevada Department of Transportation. These feeds, available online 24/7, happen to cover multiple corners of the course.

Clips posted by fans, including this video from X user @Rebootjayx, demonstrate how it is done. Editing was obviously performed after the fact, and the drawbacks were obvious: no commentary, no instant replays, no pit coverage, and resolution so low that identifying cars was often impossible.

However, the raw footage does provide a free, if imperfect, window into an otherwise copyrighted event.