Max good for business

According to F1 the cumulative TV audience for 2021 was 1.55 billion, up 4% from the 2020 season. The jump in the UK was bigger – a rise of 39%.

Pretty impressive.

 

This has less to do with Max and more to do with the new regulations, cars, improved racing, Netflix.

 

So nothing to do with the consistent WDC fight from Max ?
Viewers bored with previous Merc/Ham cake walk ?

Average layman viewers doesn't give a stuff about new regs, they don't even know what the previous regs were

 

I'd credit it to the battle for the championship too, not another Mercedes cakewalk. 2021 was not the new regs.

 

No new regs in 21...

 

My bad, I read it as 2022. Yes, certainly then, the battle in 2021 boosted viewership. Max was a part of that certainly, also Netflix has been consistently adding viewership as well. Plus who didn’t want to see Elton get his Royal fanny stomped.

 

Yes, credit to Max and Red Bull.
They gave hope that Mercedes would be challenged and defeated, after 7 years of domination.
That renewed interest among many who had stopped watching, and may have attracted new viewers too.
The season-long duel, and the many incidents kept the fight interesting to the end.
I admit F1 needed it !

 

If I were to allocate stats, I'd say the rise in popularity is likely attributed to:

10% No longer a 1-horse race due to improved racing w new regs and overall a tighter field
20% New & additional race destinations esp in the USA
70% Netflix's Drive to Survive
0% To do with anything related to Hamilton

 

It was 1.76b in 2018
1.92b in 2019
1.49b in 2020
1.55b in 2021.

Nothing to do with Max vs Lewis title, they lost 500m cumulative views due to snoozefest or Covid and they haven't returned.

 

I went looking for older stats and F1 claimed 57b cumulative in 1999 so maybe a lot of BS numbers were tossed around with Bernie in charge

 

I understand that Bernie may have used a different measuring stick.

 

Yeah like I said BS

 

although '99 was a great battle up front

 

So we're somehow turning another thread into a way to discredit Hamilton. Man the hate runs deep.

I'm sure Max has helped, just like Hamilton helped interest before he became dominant. Schumacher helped draw eyes at first until it became a one horse race, then just like the Hamilton and Merc train got so strong there was no competition and people got board (or Vettle and RB, etc) eventually if Max and RB go on another 3-4-5 year long winning street people will get board and tune out.

Max is massively popular, Lewis is massively popular, Drive to Survive is massively popular. All these things help. Also, after years of pushing F1 to pay to view, and thus driving viewers away, what is currently happening in the UK and other places as far as accessibility is concerned?

 

Unless posts have been deleted, where are you seeing the turn in the thread to make it about discreding Hamilton?

Serious question as I can't see it.

 

IMHO it is a combination having some drivers like Max that actually have a temper and appear human and passionate as well as the results of the reg changes - i.e. closer racing / more passing etc. not the regs themselves - the new F1 fan absolutely could care less about the regs or even have any knowledge of them - midpack F1 fans know of them and know of the changes but few actually know/understand the details - long-time F1 fans probably long for the V8/V10 days anyway so are put off by the whole current state but still enjoy what is left of the sport.

Max appeals to people because he is fast but also brash - has a temper - is not always robotically correct - seems fairly approachable - a guy you could go have a beer with in a local bar/pub. Much the same as Nigel Mansel, Alan Jones etc. - The sport by its very nature is elitist and complex and beyond most people's comprehension so having a top-notch driver who is human helps grow the sport.

Cheers

 

Max has his own clothing line.

Zandvoort re-opened because of Max. How many F1 drivers have a circuit re-open because of the drivers nationality??? And it's full to the brim with orange fans and orange smoke.

These Dutch fans or Max fans literally follow him at almost every circuit and you know they are there.

Of course he's good for business depending on where your business lies with his beliefs and what he represents on and off the track.

I'm sure he's great for F1 business as well.

 

Max is the F1 equivalent to Valentino Rossi in MotoGP: a popular winner.

 

This is the exact reason I like him. Of course he's ferociously fast and whatnot on track, but I really like his no BS attitude. He's not some pretend to be perfect PR robot (see George Russel) that only ever says the correct things. Max says it how (he thinks) it is and is unapologetic about it. I don't see any pretending in his life judging by what you see from him candidly.

For the exact same reasons I like Raikkonen as much as well.

That's not to say I only like drivers who are "arseholes", I'm a fan of Leclerc, Norris, Kubica for example...all guys that are genuinely nice guys with no pretending behind it all.

 

No Doubt Max is great for F1. He's a great driver, and good for the sport.

 

They were in the **** and now they´re a little less in the ****. If Verstappen wins too much ratings will go down again, like with Hamilton, Vettel, Schumacher and so on.

 

Back then F1 was free on TV. That helped, and probably he counted anybody who occasionally zapped into a F1 race for a few minutes.

 

It usually depends on whether there's a close battle at the front.

Further seasons similar to 2021 would be good for box office.