Max voted most popular driver following F1's biggest fan survey

Published on 21 October 2021 by Stefan Meens

Following the F1 Global Fan Survey, the sport’s biggest-ever survey, Max Verstappen is the most popular Formula 1 driver, 

Over 167.000 fans from 187 countries voted in the survey organised by Nielsen and Motorsport Network. 14.4% of those who voted, chose Max as their favourite driver. A third of the participants had the Dutchman in their top three.

Naturally, Max proved popular in the Netherlands, but also  a lot of Americans and Japanese fans voted for the Red Bull Racing driver.

Lando Norris was the second most popular driver, with the British youngster receiving the most female votes and from those below the age of 24.

Lewis Hamilton, who came out on top in the 2017 survey, ended up with 12.5% of the votes in third with the seven-time champ holding on to be the most popular driver in the UK. In the Netherlands, only 3% of the votes went to the Mercedes driver.

McLaren topped the standings when fans were asked to name their favourite team with 29.5% of the vote, ahead of Red Bull (19.8%). 2017 winners Ferrari (17.9%), dropped to third, ahead of fourth-placed Mercedes (11.9%). Aston Martin have doubled their support since rebranding from Force India.

Fans were also asked to select their five favourite races, with Monza, Spa, Silverstone and Monaco retaining their spots in the top four, with Japan slotting into fifth. Baku was a big mover, up from 1% of the fans’ vote in 2017 to 13%.

F1 Global Survey 2021 - Top 10 favourite drivers
Max Verstappen - 14.4%
Lando Norris - 13.7%
Lewis Hamilton - 12.5%
Daniel Ricciardo - 10.2%
Sebastian Vettel - 9%
Charles Leclerc - 7.4%
Fernando Alonso - 7.3%
Kimi Raikkonen - 5.4%
George Russell - 4%
Pierre Gasly - 2.9%

F1 Global Survey 2021 - Top 5 favourite teams
McLaren 29.5%
Red Bull 19.7%
Ferrari 17.9%
Mercedes 11.9%
Alpine 3.1%