George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W17 on track during final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on March 7, 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. Joe Portlock/Getty Images As Apple TV begins airing Formula One races in the U.S., Liberty Media CEO Derek Chang says he believes there could be a broader partnership down the line.
Apple reached a five-year deal last fall for the U.S. broadcast rights to F1, taking over the rights from ESPN. Apple TV began showing races in 2026, but has also since struck a deal with Netflix to simulcast the F1 Canadian Grand Prix. As part of the deal, Apple TV and Netflix also both have streaming rights to season eight of Drive to Survive.
Chang, who leads Formula One parent company Liberty Media, said he believes deal with Apple TV has been a benefit to all parties, which could lead to some further dealmaking.
“We haven’t done any other deals with Apple yet, but clearly they’ve been invigorated by sort of the success that they’ve had with us in the U.S. thus far, you know, it goes without saying that Eddy Cue is a huge F1 fan, and whether or not we can maybe do business with Apple in other locations around the world remains to be seen, and I think we’ll have those discussions,” Chang said at an investor conference Tuesday.
One initial worry was whether the fans would follow the sport from ESPN to Apple TV, but Chang said he believes “the fans have followed.”
“The fans have been there, and I think now what you’re seeing is less, certainly from an investor standpoint, ‘Is this going to work? To, ‘What does this unleash, and what is the potential of a deal with Apple?,” he continued.
“All of a sudden, you’re on a tech platform, which has many more capabilities and flexibility they can do, and so things like the multi-view application, the amount of data that’s coming forth through the product is pretty amazing, and I think that the fans are gravitating towards it. Fans are noticing what they have and what Apple is actually bringing to them, and it’s all been in my mind very, very positive,” he added.
Chang also praised Apple’s willingness to work with share F1 rights with other platforms like Netflix and others and broadcast races in Imax theaters, which also opens up more possibilities.
“They’ve got other deals with Tubi and other ways of distributing the product that, in the old world, you never would have thought of, because you would have said, ‘You’re giving content to a competitor.’ And what we see now is really an innovation and a way to innovate where it’s not really a competitive concept, but more of a promotional concept, and I think it’s working, and I think you know that’s again one of the elements that Apple brings to the table,” Chang said.
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