With almost 600m viewers around the globe last year, Formula One may be the ultimate made-for-television sport but it is unlike any other media property in the sporting world.

The championship’s biggest races attract massive audiences. Only the football World Cup finals, the Olympic opening ceremonies and the NFL Super Bowl are seen by more people – and two of those events are run every four years. Last year, with no Olympics or football World Cup, the 78m people who tuned into the Brazilian Grand Prix represented the largest audience for a single international sporting event in the world.