Fans Survey shock, you'll be amazed at who is the most popular!!!

[cider_and_toast]

I've just been reading a link on the CTA homepage to an Autosport article reporting the results of the latest global fan survey.

F1 fans vote Verstappen most popular driver, McLaren named favourite team

Max Verstappen has been voted as Formula 1's most popular driver, according to the biggest-ever Global Survey commissioned by Motorsport Network in partnership with F1 and Nielsen Sports.

www.autosport.com

The top three most popular drivers are currently:

1. Verstappen
2. Norris
3. Hamilton
4. Riccardo

But the real shock and one that should set major alarm bells ringing in Italy is the team popularity vote:

1. McLaren
2. Red Bull
3. Ferrari
4. Mercedes

The last survey of this type was 2017 and Ferrari were out in front then, even though they hadn't won a title for a decade. It seems 4 years later, with a further dip in performance and with drivers who aren't connecting with supporters, Ferrari's popularity has dropped considerably.

With declining popularity comes declining influence. How the times have changed.

 

[Brogan]

Verstappen most popular?

On which Belgian-Dutch planet?

 

[Johnny Carwash]

Was the survey only done in his home country of Belgium.

 

[F1Brits_90]

Verstappen is entertaining & at least he reminds me of when Lewis Hamilton came in around 2008. where he would at least liven up a even more boring race. i thought most came from young camp as being the "underdog" trying to topple the king will always give popularity. as nobody likes domination in any sport. so i was surprised he scored highest in the 35-54 age group

McLaren i get that got 3 drivers sainz & this year lando & Riccardo that have shined brilliantly & the drivers along with PR/Social Media have done a cracking job. & they are what force india used to be

i think vaguely remember doing this survey. i think i went
Lando Russell Kimi
McLaren Williams

 

[Brogan]

If by entertaining you mean massive ****, then yes I completely agree with you.

 

[cider_and_toast]

I am slightly suspect of the claim the survey saw responses from 187 countries. I think the UN only recognises just over 200.

I know F1's reach is quite broad but I doubt it's that broad.

 

[Johnny Carwash]

This is the first thing that comes to mind when I see an F1 survey.

 

[F1Brits_90]

If by entertaining you mean massive ****, then yes I completely agree with you.

off the track & in collisons yes. i do remember races where he was the only overtaking & without verstappen "talent" we wouldve seen hamilton 30 secs ahead of bottas who is 30 secs ahead of red bull every week. 2019 + 2020 were bad enough as they were at times

I am slightly suspect of the claim the survey saw responses from 187 countries. I think the UN only recognises just over 200.

I know F1's reach is quite broad but I doubt it's that broad.

i think FIFA has 210 as well. but i doubted it as well but it does seems from looking at F1 tv deals. which they do 3 types either country by country, region & continental. they would have at least 187 as i got 189. but that might have counted some of them twice. although only 8 of 73 deals are free to air

 

[Titch]

Well here’s my vote. I can’t stand Max Verstappen . But they didn’t ask me.

 

[P1]

I'm surprised by Max on this list. I do find that there is a lot of new fans, inspired by Netflix who like Lando, Ricciardo and Sainz.

I also suspect there are a lot of people who don't like Lewis for reasons of implicit racial bias - evidenced by comments like "I can't relate to him" which means his lifestyle is not white enough for me. I suspect these are the same people voting for Max because they probably also don't identify with the antics of Lando, Ricciardo and Sainz.

 

[Bleu]

For me it is much more surprising to see Lando 2nd.

 

[sobriety]

I suspect the Max fans are the "anyone but Hamilton" club, just like the "anyone but Schumacher" club were huge fans of Alonso when he beat him.

 

[F1Brits_90]

I suspect the Max fans are the "anyone but Hamilton" club, just like the "anyone but Schumacher" club were huge fans of Alonso when he beat him.

i remember being on Hakkinen side in 98. probally for that reason. but unless your called Usain bolt. no dominant sportsman has ever been liked.

 

[Dartman]

I think one should add a codicil to that, "since the advent of social media", before social media it was low profile and hardly discussed, one could name quite a few from the past who were liked probably by opinions from journo's

 

[F1Brits_90]

I think one should add a codicil to that, "since the advent of social media", before social media it was low profile and hardly discussed, one could name quite a few from the past who were liked probably by opinions from journo's

id disagree on that, i can only talk about impression of British fans not journalists who know them personally as thats different & not other countries. all the people i mention are nice people. bar lance

because they often admired after they retired but rarely like could go back to the 80/90s in snooker, Steve Davis & Stephen Hendry. Sir Alex at Manchester United, Pete Sampras who made tennis "boring" , Miguel Indurain & Lance Armstrong at the tour de France before latter was outed

​

 

[vintly]

Verstappen being the most popular driver doesn't amaze me in the slightest. Read it and weep

 

[FB]

Does the advent of Social Media not give the drivers the opportunity to present themselves as they really are, rather than the biased (often jingoistic) views of a journalist which was how it was back in the day? However, the view of the driver is then manipulated by the team and their PR machine which is more about "moving units" than it is about giving us any insight in to the individual. I doubt Max Vesratppen of Sergio Perez have written anything on their twitter feed, or published anything in Instagram themselves for years. In Max's case I suspect never, as Red Bull have controlled and manipulated his public persona since before he was a teenager.

The exception to this is probably Lewis Hamilton, who is very open on his social media feed which invites much comment from those who want to love him or loathe him for a whole host of different reasons.

 

[MarkP2017]

I'm a big fan of Hamilton and I'm certain that a lot of the vitriol against him comes down to racial bias. Having said that I'm not a lover of his "plant based diet, love animals..." stuff on Twitter. It comes across as a bit fake.
I don't think people like being told how to think by sportsment, musicians etc.

All that said. I hope he smashes MV in these final races. As a driver he is peerless imho.