The results of the F1 Global Survey, commissioned by Motorsport Network in partnership with F1 and Nielsen Sports, were released on the Thursday before the US Grand Prix, following responses from more than 167,000 fans in 187 different countries.
In the vote, McLaren took the top spot on the F1 grid, with 29.5% of fans naming it as their favorite team, almost doubling the 15.8% score from the 2017 poll.
McLaren finished the race head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the field. Red Bull took second place in the vote with 19.7%, while Ferrari finished third with 17.9%, losing its crown as the favorite team of fans from four years ago.
Both McLaren drivers did well with Lando Norris finishing second and Daniel Ricciardo finishing fourth, making them the most popular driver combination by far.
McLaren also took first place with 40% of fans in the 16-24 age group, leading the poll in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and Brazil and regional voting in Europe, America, the Middle East and Africa.
Speaking at the FIA press conference on Friday, McLaren Racing CEO Brown said he found the result “very flattering, especially given that we’ve spent the past five years.”
“To see our popularity as results increase, I think our drivers did an excellent job and went a long way towards making this a very personable team,” added Brown.
“All the men and women who work so hard at McLaren. So it’s flattering. We’re trying to give the fans and our partners a great show and it’s nice to see very positive feedback from a large group of fans all over the world. “
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McLaren has put a lot of focus on its digital edition over the past few years and has been particularly active with Norris and Ricciardo to maximize their personalities both off-track and on-track.
“We’re trying to be a fun racing team, an inclusive racing team,” Brown said.
“[We have] Drivers who are very open, communicate frequently and often with our fans, talk to them, listen to them. We just do our thing and it’s nice to see that they respond so positively to it.
“I’m a huge fan of the sport so I try to get through the lens. It wasn’t long ago that I was sitting in the stands trying to understand what would get me excited about the sport.
“So we’re just trying to give the fans that experience and it seems to be working.”
Lando Norris, McLaren, 2nd place, Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, and Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, 1st place, with the trophies
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Compared to 2017, Mercedes slipped from second to fourth place in the vote and was voted a favorite by 11.9% of fans.
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff considered it a “normal development” that went hand in hand with a sustained period of success for every team.
“We were very lucky to win seven times in a row, an enormous series of successes,” said Wolff.
“It is clear that in a nature you can cheer on more teams that have difficult times and are a bit of the underdogs.
“As Zak said, they do a great job with the drivers too, with Daniel who has been loved for a long time, and Lando is doing pretty well.
“So you deserve to be at the forefront, because the overall package in terms of marketing and social media appeal is simply very good.
“We have to think about what we can do, but you can’t change history and I wouldn’t want to change it.”
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