Formula 1 (FWONK), the premier motorsport series that combines 200+ mph racing, cutting edge tech, and glamorous global locations the likes of Monte Carlo, is poised for a huge 2026.

New rules for cars and engines and new teams from Audi and Cadillac mean more eyeballs for F1, already the most-watched racing series, when the season kicks off in Australia this weekend.

And there’s a big change coming to the all-important US market, which has been growing steadily since the pandemic. Gone is ESPN (DIS), which broadcast F1 to the masses, and in its place is tech giant Apple (AAPL), which will exclusively offer up F1 livestreams and VOD replays, among other things, on its Apple TV subscription service starting this weekend.

For Apple, it seems the deal is a no-brainer, but it’s more nuanced for a sport like F1 that’s still growing in the US — and can’t afford any missteps. F1’s Apple partnership represents a huge growth opportunity to meet viewers on multiple platforms, but for F1 it’s also a risk to turn away from traditional broadcast, with its larger audience and mix of casual and hardcore fans.

Now, anyone who wants to watch F1 has to pony up $12.99 a month for Apple TV, which could shrink that growing US audience.

And just before the season starts, Cupertino did something unthinkable. Last week, Apple and one of its biggest streaming rivals, Netflix (NFLX), announced a cross-platform F1 content deal. Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” docuseries, which made F1 mainstream in the US, will stream its new season simultaneously on Netflix and Apple TV in the US.

“This is the first time in Netflix’s history that one of its original docuseries has ever appeared on a competing streaming platform. Not once. Not ever,” wrote marketing expert and Business of Speed newsletter writer Vincenzo Landino in a recent post.

Landino called it the deal “nobody saw coming,” but that could be said about Apple’s foray into sports too.

Known more for streaming hits like Ted Lasso and Severance, Apple showered money on prestige programming to get subscribers on board. It dipped its toes into sports too, taking exclusive streaming rights of Major League Soccer, though MLS games appear on broadcast as well.

Apple’s involvement with F1 began in earnest with “F1: The Movie,” which was released last summer. It was a huge investment for the company from both a production and distribution standpoint, but it also became a huge hit, and Apple was front and center for it.

But last fall, Apple went all in on the sport by snagging exclusive rights for live F1 programming in the US, meaning it could only be seen on the Apple TV app and Apple devices.

Apple reportedly paid around $150 million a year for US broadcast rights, which ESPN had owned since 2018, and steadily grew its viewership to the delight of F1 owner Formula One Group, an offshoot of Liberty Media.

ESPN said F1 viewership increased from an average of 554,000 viewers per race in 2018 to 1.3 million in 2025, up 135%, with 16 races this year setting audience records.

While 1.3 million viewers is only half the 2.7 million of the average NASCAR race, the latter’s audience is declining. Plus, F1’s audience is more affluent and diverse, with a growing female and minority audience coveted by advertisers.

And with that on the line, Apple swooped in.

“Formula 1’s growth in America has been extraordinary, and we’re proud to build on that momentum — combining the power of Apple TV with the broader Apple ecosystem to create even more ways for fans to connect with the sport,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, in a statement Thursday morning.

In addition, Cue and Apple announced that Tubi (FOXA) will stream “altcasts” for multiple races this season, and Yahoo Sports will also stream live practice and qualifying sessions starting with the Miami Grand Prix later this year. (Yahoo Sports and Yahoo Finance are both part of Yahoo Media Group.)

For its part, F1 says it’s bullish on the new partnership.

“It’s not just Apple TV. It’s Apple Music, Apple News, the Apple stores,” Formula One group CEO Derek Chang said this week at Morgan Stanley’s tech and media conference, per Sports Business Journal. “They have so many touch points that go well beyond what you think about from a traditional television standpoint. We don’t focus on reach in an archaic definition of how many people are watching you on TV, but really, [it’s] how do you touch your fans? How do you engage with your fans?”

Chang noted the box office success of Apple’s “F1: The Movie” and praised Apple and Netflix’s deal, which includes not only “Drive to Survive” on Apple, but also the Canadian Grand Prix simulcast on Netflix.

But some Formula One investors are not happy, with Wolfe Research noting that some are calling the Apple deal “a disaster,” because of the perception that Apple TV means less distribution for F1 than ESPN would have for an important growth market like the US.

While Apple doesn’t break out subscriber numbers, The Information reports Apple had 45 million subscribers by the end of 2025. ESPN has roughly 60 million pay TV subscribers (a figure that’s fallen from 100 million in 2021), and 25 million ESPN+ digital-only subscribers.

But Wolfe Research deviates from the take that Apple is bad for F1.

“We disagree with the idea that the Apple TV deal was a massive negative,” wrote Wolfe analyst Peter Supino in a note. “A unique deal like [the Netflix/Apple deal] would almost certainly not happen with a legacy platform. Yes, ESPN has more reach, but ~2/3 of ESPN’s reach is from linear TV, which is a terrible platform for F1’s races which often air at 1 a.m. ET,” due to the global nature of the sport, he said.

Supino believes Formula One Group is “too cheap” at these levels — which he defines as 21 times 2027 free cash flow estimates — and has an Outperform rating on the stock, with Apple a part of the formula.

For Apple, rolling the dice on F1 to boost its content offerings, and of course its brand association with the preeminent racing series, is no brainer. In addition, $150 million a year for F1 rights is peanuts for Apple, which earned an astounding $112 billion in profit latest fiscal year.

But it also means fans can forget about just flipping the TV on and coming across a live F1 race; those days are over, a gamble for Formula One.

Will the loss of the casual fan be big for the sport, or will the ubiquity of Apple products and the ability for F1 to serve custom content across iPhones, Apple Music, and even Apple Maps (which now includes detailed renderings of race tracks and audio walking tours with paired with Apple Fitness) mean there’s more for fans to access, where they are, and when they please?

“Every piece touches every other piece. An operating system for how a sport lives in your life: on your screen, in your ears, in your steps, on your home screen, on your wrist,” Business of Speed’s Landino wrote. “Apple started with a movie. Then it bought the rights. Now it’s running the ecosystem.”

That’s the bet Formula One is making with Apple, and vice versa. Tune in, or log on to Apple TV on your device of choice this weekend, to see if these two big names made the right call.

Pras Subramanian is Lead Auto Reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.

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