The opening of the 2026 Formula 1 season had a major impact in Brazil and reached 17.4 million people on Globo’s platforms. The figure considers all the programming of the Australian GP weekend, broadcast between Thursday night and Sunday early morning on TV Globo and sportv3.
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The result shows strong public interest in Formula 1 right from the first stage of the championship. The reach includes all activities held in Melbourne, from the free practice sessions broadcast by sportv3 to the race shown simultaneously on free-to-air TV and pay TV.
Compared to the average for the same programming slot the previous week, the event recorded significant growth. According to the data released by the broadcaster, the audience was 2.1 million people larger. The count also includes the debut of the program “Grid da Globo”, which became part of the category’s coverage.
On TV Globo, the broadcast of the Australian GP race marked the highest motorsport audience rating since December 2020, the last time Formula 1 had been shown on the channel before its return this season. The race recorded a national average of 5 points and a 23% share among televisions turned on.
The performance represents an 8% growth compared to the average for the Saturday early morning time slot in the previous four weeks, considering the period between 1h03 and 2h27. Additionally, the result was the best performance for an Australian GP on free-to-air TV since 2017.
Another piece of data that drew attention was the profile of the audience that followed the race. The broadcast recorded a strong presence of male audience in the time slot, reaching the highest rating for this demographic on Saturday early mornings in the last six months.
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In Greater São Paulo, one of the country’s main measurement markets, the numbers were also expressive. The race held in Melbourne scored 7 audience points and a 26% share, representing the highest result for a race held in Australia in 15 years in the region.
The performance was also significant on sportv3, responsible for broadcasting all Formula 1 weekend activities. The race had a reach 138% higher than that recorded by the 2025 edition on the pay TV competition.
The category also managed to attract a younger audience to the sports channel. According to the released data, 28% of the audience was composed of viewers up to 34 years old, which represents approximately triple the annual average for sportv3 in this age group.
During the race broadcast, the pay channel reached a 65% share among pay TV sports channels. With this performance, sportv3 occupied the second position in the overall Pay TV ranking during the period the Formula 1 race was on air.
The numbers reinforce the impact of the category’s return to Globo platforms and indicate that Formula 1 continues to have strong appeal among the Brazilian public, especially in major events such as the season opener.
