(from Autosport) (Note that the most popular circuits were European, and that Massa was more popular than Hamilton) Formula 1 fans have given the sport's new points system introduced for 2010 a big thumbs up, voted Ferrari the most popular team and say Michael Schumacher is the most supported driver, as the first results from grand prix racing's biggest ever survey are revealed. The 2010 LG Global Fan Survey, conducted by F1 Racing and the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) in conjunction with LG Electronics, compiled the views of more than 90,000 fans from 180 different countries when it was conducted in February. A selection of the results are published for the first time in this month's edition of F1 Racing, with a more detailed review coming on AUTOSPORT.com next week. One of the most popular outcomes was the new points system introduced this year - with 44.9 per cent saying they think the 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 system is good. This is slightly less than the 61.9 per cent who believe there should be a bigger points gap between first and second place. F1 fans have also put a move to High Definition (HD) coverage of the sport at the top of their wish list (65.7 per cent want it), followed by interactivity to follow a specific car (53.7 per cent) and watching F1 on the internet (52.4 per cent). In terms of favourite venues for F1 races, Monaco (52.0 per cent) topped the list ahead of Italy (50.6 per cent), Britain (42.9 per cent) and Germany (28.8 per cent). Ferrari returned to the top of the polls in terms of most popular team, with 30.1 per cent of the votes, ahead of McLaren (19.1 per cent) and Brawn/Mercedes (10.01 per cent). In the drivers' stakes, Schumacher came out on top (19.5 per cent), ahead of Fernando Alonso (9.7 per cent), Kimi Raikkonen (7.2 per cent), Felipe Massa (6.1 per cent), Lewis Hamilton (6.0 per cent) and Robert Kubica (4.3 per cent).
So ... 7.2% of people who voted do not know that Kimi is not racing anymore? Thanks for the stats. I agree with most as well.
Stats are okay but the venues I don't agree with (Monaco is for show and not for real racing imo) - great news, however, is that the "new ones" are even listed and the roots of Grands Prix racing remain ! ! ! ! Carol
Memory sucks as I get older, but I believe I took this survey near the end of this past season while Kimi was still an F1 possibility. So his name appeared on the list. As for venues, F1 has its roots in Europe, I think the majority of races should be in Europe with each continent, or even region, having a single race. But three in the Middle East? And both Singapore and China, now possibly India? Nah
To be fair, the way the statement is worded, it's not the race itself that they were voting for but the venue. To Me that means how special the occasion is and the whole ambiance at the race, not the race itself. When you look at it that way it's easier to see why the Monaco GP and the Italian GP stand out. Monaco has the glamour and Italy has the passion of the Tifosi. These things make attending either of these races an incredible lifetime experience.
5. Spa 29.4% 6. Brazil 27.1% 7.France 25.2% 8. !!!!! USA!!!! 23.9% (Impressive) 9.Suzuka 23.4% 10. Oz 22.6% Kind of surprised Vettel would be lower ranked than quite a few of the names posted. He is a recognized phenom on the verge of being WDC. Amazing. The new point system endorsement is another shocker, guess the traditionalists are out-gunned in that one, therefore I shouldn't be surprised the fans want KERS to return by over 43%....
Utter bollocks. Monaco is the BEST street circuit in the world by far and requires the most skill out of all the other tracks. The good thing about Monaco is that it actually flows, unlike other street circuits. F1 without Monaco would not be F1, and have a look back at the drivers that won at Monaco ... only the best win there with the single exception of Panis . Would be the first european circuit I would visit and not to look at some brainless womans t!ts either ... Pete
Massa--6.1% Hamilton--6.0% OK, technically Massa came in ahead of Hamilton in popularity. Not exactly a runaway margin though.
If you finish first by .001 of a second over the second place car, people remember you won. That's all that matters.
The results of this poll are only a guideline, not necessarily reality. It all depends on who was motivated enough to respond, and their personal bias. Doesn't mean a broad spectrum of opinions were included. It certainly appears a large percentage of participants were Ferrari fans. That could explain why drivers like Vettel did not place higher, and why Kimi placed so high.
This is quite surprising considering Finland's population of 5 million. Germany has 16x, Spain 9x and Brazil something like 40x the number of people. If you go by language, the differences are even more enormous. And Finland has never even had a F1 GP. It is good to see that the real thing still counts in a world overrun by carbon copy media whores.
Indeed. However, 90,000 responses from over 180 countries is definitely "statistically significant". And of course the majority of responses came from Ferrari fans! There's way more of us than any other team can come close to mustering...... Cheers, Ian
The real interesting study would be which team has the largest percentage of fans that are computer literate. Or just literate.
