Formula 1 has announced a weekend attendance of 266,000 at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix – the largest figure at Suzuka in nearly 20 years.
The 2025 Japanese Grand Prix weekend had a total attendance of 266,000 – the biggest weekend attendance at Suzuka since 2006 and an increase of 37,000 on the 2024 figure. After initially displaying a weekend attendance of 255,000 in their pre-race broadcast, Formula 1 amended the figure to 266,000 after the race.
There was plenty of local interest for the Japanese fans, with Yuki Tsunoda stepping up to Red Bull from Racing Bulls, replacing Liam Lawson at the team after just two races in the 2025 season. Red Bull ran a white and red livery at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix, in tribute to their partnership with Honda, which comes to an end at the conclusion of the 2025 season.
Coinciding with the race weekend, a fan festival was held in Tokyo to celebrate F1’s visit to Japan. Earlier in the week, Tsunoda and Lawson joined their respective new team-mates Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar for demonstration runs on the city streets.
The 2025 Japanese Grand Prix marked the second time that the Suzuka race has taken place in April. It moved to its new position on the schedule last year as part of F1’s calendar rationalisation, helping the sport to reach its net zero emissions goals by 2030. Suzuka Circuit has further helped F1’s efforts in 2025 by installing new solar panels at the circuit and introducing the use of HVO fuel to power generators in the paddock.
2025 Japanese Grand Prix: Attendance Continues to Grow at Suzuka
In the 2010s, weekend attendance figures at Suzuka reached 200,000 only once, in 2012 when home hero Kamui Kobayashi recorded the first and only podium finish of his career on home soil. The Japanese Grand Prix returned to the calendar in 2022 after a 3-year enforced break due to the coronavirus pandemic.
After 200,000 fans attended in 2022 – at a time when Japan had not re-opened to international visitors – the figure grew to 222,000 in 2023 and reached 229,000 in 2024. The 2025 figure of 266,000 represents Suzuka’s largest weekend attendance since its 2006 record, when 361,000 packed into the circuit over the three days.
Read more about previous attendances figures at Suzuka: Triumph, Tragedy and Typhoons – 50 Years of Japanese Grand Prix Attendance Figures.
The Japanese Grand Prix’s current contract lasts until 2029, with Suzuka race organisers having signed a five-year contract extension with Formula 1 in February 2024. Next year marks 50 years since the Japanese Grand Prix first appeared on the F1 calendar. It was run at Fuji Speedway in 1976 and 1977 before returning at Suzuka in 1987.
F1 Attendance Figures On The Rise
All three Formula 1 weekends so far in 2025 have posted higher weekend attendance figures than in 2024. At the Australian Grand Prix, 4-day attendance grew by over 10,000 compared to last year. The total figure of 465,000 was a new record attendance for the Melbourne event. At the Chinese Grand Prix, attendance improved by around 20,000 compared to 2024, with the 3-day weekend figure totalling 220,000.
Attendance is also likely to rise at next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, with all grandstand tickets having sold out and only a limited number of hospitality packages remaining available. The event is one of the lowest attended of the season, with 100,000 passing through the circuit gates across the weekend in 2024. Last year, race day in Sakhir saw a new record for the event, with 37,000 spectators in the grandstands.
Elsewhere, British Grand Prix organisers announced earlier this week that 95% of grandstand tickets for the 2025 race weekend in July had sold out.
The Japanese Grand Prix was the first of three races on consecutive weekends. After the Bahrain Grand Prix next week, F1 will head on to Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the fifth running of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
