Over four million spectators (4,093,305) attended at least one of the 21 Grands Prix on the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar, with an average attendance of almost 200,000 per weekend (194,919).

Seven Grands Prix, a third of all events, attracted crowds of over 200,000: Great Britain (340,000), Mexico (334,946), Australia (295,000), USA (263,160), Singapore (263,000), Belgium (250,000) and Hungary (210,000). The average attendance per race weekend was up over the 2017 figures by 2.7%, while four events saw an increase of over 10%: Azerbaijan (+31.6%), Austria (+27.6%), Japan (+20.4%) and Canada (+11.4%).

Isolating the Sunday figures, overall attendance was 1,702,959. On average, 81,093 spectators applauded the skills of world champion Lewis Hamilton and the other 19 drivers on race days this year. Once again, it was Silverstone that led the way, where 140,500 spectators watched Sebastian Vettel win, while 135,407 celebrated Hamilton take his fifth world Championship title at the Mexican Grand Prix. The USA Grand Prix drew an estimated crowd of 111,580 on race day, with six tracks posting a double figure increase over the previous year: Azerbaijan (+29.1%)†, Austria (+25.2%)†, Bahrain (+22.1%)†, Canada (+21.4), Japan (+19.1%) and Hungary (+10.1%).

The two races added to the calendar in 2018, France and Germany, drew a total crowd of 315,000 – 150,000 at Le Castellet and 165,000 at Hockenheim, more than making up for the 110,604 lost with the disappearance of the Malaysian Grand Prix. According for the adjustments made to certain 2017 attendance figures subsequent to the release of last year’s attendance results and the increase from 20 to 21 to the total number of events, the overall increase in attendance from 2017 to 2018 is 7.83% in absolute terms.

Sean Bratches, Managing Director, Commercial Operations, Formula 1 said: “With nearly 200,000 spectators at each Grand Prix, and more than 80,000 packing the grandstands for Sunday’s races across the season, it demonstrates that these big numbers compare favourably with other major sporting events, thus confirming a trend for growth. We are particularly pleased with the results and research carried out through the season regarding satisfaction levels of spectators, as they prove that our efforts to engage fans are working well. The whole show of a Grand Prix weekend - the Formula 1 race, all the support series and the activities around the track - constitues a great experience for the fans, as the attendance and research figures confirm. We strongly believe that Formula 1 has great potential which still hasn’t been fully exploited and we are fully committed to improving the fan experience in the future.”