With a weekend attendance of 440,000, the 2022 United States Grand Prix becomes the best-attended United States F1 race in history and the best-attended race of the 2022 Formula 1 season to date.
The 2022 United States Grand Prix set a new record as the best attended Formula 1 race in the United States, surpassing the 2021 United States Grand Prix attendance figure by 40,000. On track, Max Verstappen clinched his 13th victory of the 2022 season, equalling the record for most wins in a single season. The captivating Grand Prix was complemented by big name concerts off track, with Green Day and Ed Sheeran performing over the weekend.
The United States overtakes Australia as the best-attended race of the 2022 season. The Melbourne race had a record 420,000 spectators over the weekend – 20,000 fewer than Circuit of The Americas. The race day attendance figure at COTA has not yet been confirmed, but it will likely have surpassed the 142,000 at Silverstone for the 2022 British Grand Prix.
As well as being the best attended Formula 1 race in the United States, the 2022 United States Grand Prix was one of the best-attended F1 races on record. The 1995 Australian Grand Prix holds the record for the best-attended race weekend in Formula 1 history. 500,000 attended over the four days of the final race weekend to take place in Adelaide.
United States Grand Prix weekend attendance figures
While the United States Grand Prix had previously struggled to find a stable home in the United States, Circuit of The Americas has drawn in a weekend crowd of over 200,000 in every season that it has hosted the event. A healthy 265,000 attended the inaugural race weekend at the track in 2012. The race day figure that year, 117,429, remained the record Sunday attendance at COTA until 2021.
Attendance figures at COTA did decline for a while after the inaugural race. Scheduling issues were partly to blame for the dip in attendance in 2014, while heavy rain may have kept spectators away in 2015, when the attendance figure dropped to a low of just over 220,000.
Despite the washed-out 2015 United States Grand Prix, the weekend attendance figure recovered to what was then a new high of almost 270,000. The 3-day figure remained at a similar level until the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 United States Grand Prix.
When F1 returned to America in 2021, the sport had found a new audience in the interim years thanks to the success of Netflix series Drive to Survive. Coupled with a surge in interest as a result of more easily accessible TV coverage, the 2021 weekend was attended by over 100,000 more spectators than the previous race in 2019. The figure grew to a new high in 2022, with 440,000 making it a record-breaking weekend.
An American driver on the grid in 2023?
A number of drivers made guest appearances in the opening Free Practice session at the 2022 United States Grand Prix. Among the guest stars were 2021 IndyCar champion Alex Palou and American Formula 2 racer Logan Sargeant.
On Saturday, Williams team principal Jost Capito confirmed that Sargeant will race for the team in 2023 if he scores the necessary points to secure a superlicense over the two Formula 2 races taking place at November’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He currently sits third in the F2 standings and needs to finish at least 7th in the end of season standings to secure the required superlicense points.
If Sargeant secures the superlicense points, he will become the first American to start a Grand Prix since Alexander Rossi at the 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix and the first full-time American driver since Scott Speed, who raced with Toro Rosso in 2006-7.
Las Vegas Grand Prix hype builds
As the 2022 United States Grand Prix weekend comes to an end, the American focus now turns to Las Vegas. Next year, Formula 1 will race stateside three times with the addition of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. While the inaugural race on the Las Vegas Strip is set to take place next November, F1 will visit Las Vegas in the coming weeks.
A special Las Vegas Grand Prix launch event will take place on November 5 2022, which will be attended by current teams and drivers. Tickets for the race are expected to be available soon after. Learn more about purchasing tickets for the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
It was an Amazing experience not to mention a great race! So many people but it just added to the excitement of the day . I will always treasure my memories and hope to attend another race in the coming years.
Happy to hear that Belinda, it was definitely an exciting race and I think the organization was also much improved this year
It was my first live F1 race to attend and it was epic in every way!!! I went by myself and had the time of my life!
Awesome to hear Gillian!
We attended and had a great experience. The traffic leaving was a pain on the shuttle but still worth it. When those cars sped by it was such a rush.
Awesome!