Formula 1 has confirmed a weekend attendance of 432,000 at the 2023 United States Grand Prix – 8,000 down on Circuit of The Americas’ 2022 attendance figure.
The 2023 United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas attracted a weekend crowd of 432,000, Formula 1 has announced. The attendance figure for the Texas race remains stable, though down slightly, when compared to last year’s weekend, which 440,000 attended. It’s a loss of around 2,500 attendees per day.
Race fans were treated to plenty of on-track action over the 2023 United States Grand Prix. With F1 utilising the Sprint format this weekend, there were two chances for fans to see F1 cars going wheel-to-wheel. Max Verstappen won Saturday’s Sprint from pole and the recently-crowned World Champion won Sunday’s Grand Prix from sixth on the grid, securing his 50th Grand Prix win.
In addition, Marta Garcia became the first champion of the all-female F1 Academy series which raced three times over the weekend. Masters Historic and Porsche Carrera Cup North America were also on the support bill.
Off-track, COTA has become renowned for its stellar musical line-up and this year was no different. The Killers headlined after qualifying on Friday, while Queen + Adam Lambert entertained the crowds after Saturday’s Sprint.
2023 United States Grand Prix Continues COTA’s Strong Attendances
When F1 first visited Austin in 2012, the weekend attendance was a respectable 265,000. The figure dropped by 40,000 over the course of the next four seasons before attendance rose to a new high in 2016, thanks in part to the addition of a Taylor Swift concert on Saturday night.
Concerts have remained a popular part of the COTA weekend and 2023 is the first time that attendance figures have not grown with F1’s every visit to Texas since 2017. Attendances at Circuit of The Americas have soared since the pandemic, which caused F1 not to race in the United States in 2020. For its return in 2021, the United States Grand Prix attracted 400,000 fans. One year later, the number had grown by a further 40,000.
The addition of two further races in the United States seems not to have affected attendance figures for the Austin race. The Miami Grand Prix joined the calendar for the first time in 2022, while the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix will take place in less than a month’s time with Formula 1’s first-ever Saturday night Grand Prix on the Las Vegas Strip.
COTA is Not the Best-Attended Race in 2023
While the COTA race was the best-attended of both the 2021 and 2022 Formula 1 seasons, the 2023 United States Grand Prix will not top the list this year. COTA’s total attendance falls 48,000 short of the total 4-day 2023 British Grand Prix weekend in July.
480,000 attended the Silverstone race weekend, making it one of the best-attended races in Formula 1 history. The Australian Grand Prix, attendance at which was over 444,000, also had a higher overall attendance figure than the 2023 United States Grand Prix.
| Event | Circuit | Total Attendance |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 British Grand Prix | Silverstone | 480,000 |
| 2023 Australian Grand Prix | Albert Park | 444,631 |
| 2023 United States Grand Prix | Circuit of The Americas | 432,000 |
| 2023 Belgian Grand Prix | Spa Francorchamps | 380,000 |
| 2023 Canadian Grand Prix | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve | 345,000 |
| 2023 Dutch Grand Prix | Zandvoort | 305,000 |
| 2023 Italian Grand Prix | Monza | 304,135 |
| 2023 Austrian Grand Prix | Red Bull Ring | 304,000 |
| 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix | Hungaroring | 303,000 |
| 2023 Spanish Grand Prix | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya | 284,066 |
| 2023 Miami Grand Prix | Miami International Autodrome | 270,491 |
| 2023 Singapore Grand Prix | Marina Bay Circuit | 264,108 |
| 2023 Japanese Grand Prix | Suzuka | 222,000 |
| 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix | Jeddah Corniche Circuit | 150,000 |
| 2023 Qatar Grand Prix | Losail International Circuit | 120,000 |
| 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix | Bahrain International Circuit | 99,500 |
It’s not expected that the remaining races this season will compete for the top spot on the above list. While the Mexico City Grand Prix’s attendance neared 400,000 last year, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix attracted just under 250,000. The new Las Vegas Grand Prix is expected to attract around 100,000 attendees per day, while the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix usually pulls in around 150,000 spectators over the event weekend.
Based on the official figures provided so far this year and estimated figures for upcoming races plus races for which attendances have not yet been announced (Azerbaijan and Monaco), we expect Formula 1’s total attendance in 2023 across all 22 races to exceed six million. It would be an increase of around 400,000 compared to last year’s confirmed total when 22 races were also held and up by around two million on the 2019 figure.
The crowd was great! It still took 3 hours to get out of there and one can still manage to put in over 10,000 steps per day.
The thing that makes AUSTIN special is also the thing that can be frustrating – the race is on a PROPER track, 30 miles from the downtown city streets