Will Apple Stream Live F1 (Racing)?

Tim Cook and Apple are all about Formula 1 these days. As a lead-in to the WWDC keynote, Apple played a short clip of its leading software executive, Craig Federighi, racing an F1 car on top of Apple Park. It was a nod to the new F1 movie coming to Apple TV. And it might hint at something even bigger. 

Pals in the motorsport business are hinting at live F1 streaming coming to Apple TV. You heard it here first, folks! it would be interesting to see how much Apple is paying for the rights. The Wall Street Journal recently reported: 

The reason for such a concerted push on this side of the Atlantic is that in the U.S., F1 has tapped into the kind of audience that advertisers salivate over. They’re young, affluent and more gender-balanced than your average sports crowd, with an average age of 35 and roughly 60% men and 40% women, F1 says.

ESPN, which was paying exactly $0 for the rights to the series as recently as 2018, chose to walk away from its exclusive negotiation window for a new package late last year. F1, which is reportedly seeking between $150 million and $180 million a season, declined to comment on negotiations with prospective broadcast partners, but said it was confident it would secure a contract soon. 

I don’t mind that Apple is following in Netflix’s slipstream. I mean, world’s number one streamer has raised F1’s profile in the American consciousness with its “Drive to Survive” reality TV series. That series turned America from an F1 backwater to the only country that hosts three F1 races — Austin, Miami, Las Vegas.

I am a lifelong F1 fan—even from before the Ayrton Senna vs. Alain Prost rivalry. This is all very exciting for me, and that is why I say, bring it on.

I love F1. And I love F1 even more on my Vision Pro. I currently use Vroom to watch F1 races on my Vision Pro, but official Apple streaming could go a long way. In my book, that is a pole position!

June 11, 2025. San Francisco