Apple is poised to make its move into the U.S. Formula 1 market. As the new exclusive broadcaster, the tech giant doesn’t just intend to air the races live — it wants to embed the sport deeply into the lives of American fans. Every Apple product will be pressed into service to boost Formula 1’s visibility across the United States. Chief executive Eddy Cue laid out the ambitious strategy this week.
“We’re going to leverage everything Apple has to offer,” Cue told RACER. “Whether it’s Apple News, our sports app or our music streaming service — it will all be used. Think about our retail footprint as well. We have a store in every major U.S. city.” Formula 1 has already closed a huge gap in America thanks to the hit Netflix documentary Drive to Survive and F1: The Movie, the blockbuster Apple produced in collaboration with Lewis Hamilton.
New viewing experience
“The film played a major role,” Cue explained. “It introduced a lot of people to Formula 1 for the first time. And we know many of those viewers are now tuning into the races. That presents tremendous opportunities.” Beyond a broad promotional push, Apple is focused on new ways to watch. “What will hit you straight away is the unprecedented image quality,” he continued, clearly proud. “We’re capturing everything in 4K, but without the kind of compression viewers have come to expect. So the first time you watch, you’ll think: ‘Wow — I’ve never seen a 4K experience like this.’”
Fan engagement is being raised as well. Apple wants to give fans a one‑button route straight into their favourite driver’s cockpit. “We have a button that not only follows the race, but also the teams — your preferred team with all the data layered in,” he said. “We’ll also deploy iPhones in places you’ve never seen before. From producing the film we learned how to use different camera angles to show what extraordinary athletes these drivers are.”
