Hamilton drives 12.5m to ITV1

A massive peak audience of 12.5m (48.8%) at 6.45pm saw Lewis Hamilton claim the Formula 1 title as the race went down to the wire. An evening of motoring also saw an impressive return for Top Gear.

The entire live three-hour coverage of the Brazilian Grand Prix, between 4pm and 7.15pm, drew an impressive average audience of 8.8m (41.7%), some 238% above the channel's slot average for the year so far of 2.6m (16.6%).

It was the most watched Formula 1 race since ITV1 started broadcasting the event in 1997.

The coverage kicked off at 4pm with 3.9m (25.9%) but when the actual race started an hour later 8.8m (43.1%) were watching. Half an hour later it hit 10m (45.8%).

The race itself gained a stellar 10.3m (45.6%) with the sporting event attracting a strong upmarket and male audience.

Close to half – 47.6% - of all those watching the race were from the ABC1 demographic. Men were particularly attracted to the final race of the season as they made up 59.8% of the audience.

The event also brought in a healthy amount of younger viewers with 21.8% of the audience were aged between 16 and 34.

Unsurprisingly, ITV1 comprehensively dominated viewing at the time. BBC1's best performance during the race was 2.3m (10.1%) for a repeat of Little Dorrit at 5.20pm.

Source: BroadcastNow