Formula 1’s media landscape in the United States has been flipped on its head for 2026, with Apple landing the exclusive rights to show every session of every grand prix across the next five seasons.
The new era began in Melbourne at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and it rolls straight into China for round two — the first sprint weekend of the year — with Apple TV set to carry the full programme from practice through to Sunday’s race on 15 March.
For F1, it’s another step towards turning race weekends into an always-on product rather than a couple of appointment-viewing slots. Apple isn’t just buying two hours on a Sunday afternoon; it’s pitching itself as the front door for the entire sport. The company says subscribers will get “every minute” of practice, qualifying, sprint sessions and all 24 races on the 2026 calendar, including the three US events in Miami, Las Vegas and at the Circuit of the Americas.
There’s also an interesting concession to the casual audience: Apple has indicated it will make selected races available free inside the Apple TV app, though it hasn’t confirmed which grands prix will be unlocked. That sort of sampling feels deliberately designed to hook new viewers without giving away the crown jewels.
Apple’s deeper play is obvious once you look beyond the live feed. It’s promising real-time leaderboards, driver and constructor standings, and a dedicated widget spread across its wider ecosystem — Apple News, Maps, Music and the Apple Sports app. Whether fans actually want their phone to surface live classification next to their playlists is another matter, but the intent is clear: keep F1 present across the day, not just during the chequered flag window.
The timing is no accident. Apple has been steadily tightening its link to the championship, helped by the launch of the ‘F1 Movie’ last year, which arrived on the streaming service in December. Bringing the races under the same umbrella is a neat bit of vertical integration — drama, documentary and now the real thing — and it underlines how aggressively F1’s commercial rights are being positioned within the entertainment arms race.
One of the more notable elements in the package is that an Apple subscription is said to include access to F1 TV as well, meaning the sport’s own platform — live timing, highlights and behind-the-scenes content — is effectively bundled into the same offering for US viewers. That could be a genuine sweet spot for the hardcore audience: fewer logins, less fragmentation, and a clearer route to the features F1’s most engaged fans actually use during a race.
Apple is also touting “new features” designed to bring viewers closer to the action, including access to driver cameras. How that’s implemented — and whether it’s a true multi-onboard experience or a curated selection — will quickly become the talking point among power users, because that’s where streaming coverage wins or loses credibility with this audience.
Then there’s Netflix. In a move that would’ve sounded fanciful a few years ago, Apple TV has partnered with the streaming giant so users can watch every episode of Drive to Survive, keeping F1’s most influential off-track product within touching distance of the live broadcast. The deal goes further: the Canadian Grand Prix will be streamed on both Apple TV and Netflix in the US as part of the partnership.
From a business perspective, it’s a reminder that the platforms aren’t just competing; they’re also perfectly happy to cooperate when it suits them. From a fan perspective, it raises a simple question: is this the beginning of a more open streaming ecosystem around F1, or a one-off marketing spike designed to shout about the new rights deal?
Cost-wise, Apple TV is priced at $12.99 per month in the US, with a seven-day free trial for anyone wanting to test the service before committing. The bigger question will be how the value proposition lands once the novelty fades. Fans will tolerate a lot if the stream is rock-solid, the app doesn’t fight them, and the extra features actually work on a live race day. But the moment the experience feels like it’s been designed for the boardroom rather than the living room, social media will do what it always does.
For now, Apple has the keys to F1’s US audience — and an early sprint weekend in China is a quick way to find out whether the new home can handle a full-throttle race schedule without missing a beat.
