Drivers and Teams You Support

I know they're all a bit weird and we have to cut them some slack, but did you watch the video? What do you think? I think that is the real Sebastian Vettel.

I did watch that video and like I said I see nothing disrespectful or arrogant there... no matter what Eddie Jordan says...

He seems agitated possibly about the tyres and I understand how some drivers might be angry about the tyres....

I don't think Seb is any different as he comes across, funny, nice, angry sometimes and not good at loosing...

this video actually underlines for me Seb being honest... he said he gives the tyres a 6 (worst grade in german school system) in an interview and he seems to tell the Pirelli guys exactly what he thinks... of course we dont know what he is saying but that is how it seems to me

Vettel since his start in F1. Raised my kids in a small German town not far from Heppenheim so I understand a bit of his background. Seb takes too much illogical abuse on this forum.
Kimi because he is not only funny and cool, but fast.
Massa as one must always pull for an underdog.

Teams: Red Bull and Ferrari.

I did watch that video and like I said I see nothing disrespectful or arrogant there... no matter what Eddie Jordan says...

He seems agitated possibly about the tyres and I understand how some drivers might be angry about the tyres....

I don't think Seb is any different as he comes across, funny, nice, angry sometimes and not good at loosing...

this video actually underlines for me Seb being honest... he said he gives the tyres a 6 (worst grade in german school system) in an interview and he seems to tell the Pirelli guys exactly what he thinks... of course we dont know what he is saying but that is how it seems to me

That video is an excellent example of Vettel showing that he has an edge, a natural aggression and confidence and that he will not shy away from the powers that be. This is what you want to see in a driver if you are a team boss and imo it is this kind of edge that is the mark of being one of the great drivers.

Edited by halifaxf1fan, 03 May 2013 - 23:50.

Ferrari, but I couldn't vote because it required me to pick a driver.

I did watch that video and like I said I see nothing disrespectful or arrogant there... no matter what Eddie Jordan says...

He seems agitated possibly about the tyres and I understand how some drivers might be angry about the tyres....

I don't think Seb is any different as he comes across, funny, nice, angry sometimes and not good at loosing...

this video actually underlines for me Seb being honest... he said he gives the tyres a 6 (worst grade in german school system) in an interview and he seems to tell the Pirelli guys exactly what he thinks... of course we dont know what he is saying but that is how it seems to me

With regard to that video of Vettel and the Pirelli guy until anyone knows exactly what was being said, and the tone in which it was being said its anyones guess as to whether it displays an air of arrogance, Lewis for example has made many bold claims to his own greatness and/or abilities which leave absolutely no doubt as to his arrogance, which imo far outweighs anything Vettel has shown.

I think he lied about the multi21 thing, and if he didn't lie and then went on to make an apology only to retract it later, or to try and dress it up didn't do him any favours at all.

As i've said, i think a Vettel/Raikkonen pairing would be less abrasive than the current Vettel/Webber combination, I think their natural friendship would foster a more open and trusting envoiroment, I think it seems pretty clear that there's very little trust between Vettel and Webber, how that mistrust initially came about is anyones guess but i think a Vettel/Raikkonen pairing would at least start out with a healthy degree of trust, and i also believe that they would maintain that trust and respect, as Kimi said "If we crashed we would complain, its only natural" but i think they're both mature enough to sort out any such incidents.

I know they're all a bit weird and we have to cut them some slack, but did you watch the video? What do you think? I think that is the real Sebastian Vettel.

I agree. The real Sebastian Vettel is honest, forceful, competitive and mature. In that video I see all those four qualities. Perhaps you view arguing over tyre choice as a small matter, but to the driver whose championship and, more than that, life depends on those tyres, I think he had every right to get his point across.

I shall also list why I chose my drivers because I am really bored.

Sebastian Genuine. That is the word Kimi Raikkonen, David Coulthard, Jake Humphrey and Adrian Newey used to describe him. I can't think of any higher praise (especially in these shark-infested F1 waters ).

Kimi It is really for the the entertainment factor. For all that he doesn't talk much, Kimi has always entertained me - on-track and especially off-track. I like that.

Felipe Such a loyal servant to Ferrari, and a real passionate racer. But most of all, so dignified even in defeat.

Nico Hulkenberg He is really grounded - makes no bones about his competitiveness but is always respectful of others. He also seems less involved in the political bull that goes around the paddock *coughAlonsocough*.

Nico Rosberg It is really because of his support for Bayern Munich. Other than that, he seems a nice guy and quite entertaining in interviews. But his tweets on Bayern .

Romain Grosjean His "smile, what's the use of crying" personality makes me want to root for him regardless of all the incidents he has had in the past. I just want him to come good.

Pastor Maldonado He is such a character. Just like my support for Mario Balotelli and Diego Maradona, this guy's talent combined with utter ridiculousness makes me want to watch him every race.

Ferrari It started with Ferrari so, regardless of current management or their drivers, I will always have a soft spot for Ferrari. I just miss Jean Todt's version of it.

Lotus GP It is remarkably strange but even as I supported Ferrari, in 2005 and 2006 I was cheering for Renault (it may have something to do with my dislike for Schumacher and my then support for Alonso). And though they are now rebranded, the Enstone team is still as endearing as ever.

Red Bull How can you not like a team that has the Red Bull spy in it? Really. Other than that, their service has always been prompt and helpful when I ordered online, they constantly reach out to fans (I have had my tweets replied as well), and they have the best team racing podcast. Just saying.

Toro Rosso I don't really know why - because they were formerly Minardi? because they gave Sebastian his first win? because they are the Italian B-team? - but I just like them.

Sauber Nico Hulkenburg is driving there. Plus they gave Kimi, Felipe, Sebastian and Kamui their debuts.

Marussia Just like their name. Rolls off the tongue.

I'm really surprised how few people like Force India & Caterham... I can kinda understand with Torro Rosso as they only seem like a recruit team nowadays.... but still

I mean of the backmarker teams my favorite is Marussia too, simply cause I played them in F1 2012 :o and cause I liked Timo Glock... but at least Caterham got the cuter french guy.... ;P c'mon people... and there new slimer green car is prettier than the Marussia as well xD..

Edited by Sin, 04 May 2013 - 04:14.

Call me cynical, but I believe that has more to do with Hamilton than anything else.

True. ~80% of people are like sheeps.

I don't see Vettel as that honest, for one thing: Suzuka 2011 for example when he claimed he didn't see JB but we saw him looking, or just now when he said he 'didn't do it deliberately', hadn't understood Multi21 when we knew he understood Multi12, and thought Webber deserved the race then he didn't. His truth depends on expediency.

Kimi doesn't need that. For example when he didn't want to support Massa in 2008 he just openly refused until Luca made him the right offer.

Kimi races 100% clean while Sebi does that dodgy little sideways jink sometimes (Austin last year), that's also pretty dangerous.

And Kimi is himself always, whiile Sebi has the jokey kid car-naming persona that hides a deep arrogance as we saw here when he thought the TV wasn't on him. Kimi might push a photographer but he's straightforward about it; he would never behave like that.

So I do see them as quite opposite. It's quite mysterious to me why some fans who appreciate Kimi's qualities of honesty and being so geniune also like Sebi whom I see as quite false - false because he knows how unattractive his deeper character is.

undersquare, forum is (historically) full of complains that drivers behave like corporate robots. Now when you get a rare glimpse as emotions burst out, suddenly a driver is "you inject an adjective". They can't win are they, because they are damn if they, and do and they are damn, if they don't. It depends who it is, and he may or may not get away with it as you absolve him under some personal explanation.

As a finn I go for the usual suspects..

Drivers:

Räikkönen - Supported him since he came to Formula 1.

Bottas - Interesting to see how the 'story' unfolds for him. Hopefully he'll succeed.

And Vettel is okay too... I don't support him really, but if the WDC came to point where only such drivers as Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel would be in the fight, I'd definitely support Vettel.

Teams:

Lotus and Williams

Edited by darkkis, 04 May 2013 - 07:15.

I don't see Vettel as that honest, for one thing: Suzuka 2011 for example when he claimed he didn't see JB but we saw him looking, or just now when he said he 'didn't do it deliberately', hadn't understood Multi21 when we knew he understood Multi12, and thought Webber deserved the race then he didn't. His truth depends on expediency.

Kimi doesn't need that. For example when he didn't want to support Massa in 2008 he just openly refused until Luca made him the right offer.

Kimi races 100% clean while Sebi does that dodgy little sideways jink sometimes (Austin last year), that's also pretty dangerous.

And Kimi is himself always, whiile Sebi has the jokey kid car-naming persona that hides a deep arrogance as we saw here when he thought the TV wasn't on him. Kimi might push a photographer but he's straightforward about it; he would never behave like that.

So I do see them as quite opposite. It's quite mysterious to me why some fans who appreciate Kimi's qualities of honesty and being so geniune also like Sebi whom I see as quite false - false because he knows how unattractive his deeper character is.

Then, it must also be mysterious to you that Kimi himself is such good friends with Vettel! That, Kimi himself says Vettel is honest, humble and straight-forward. May be what we saw from TV is not that straight-forward and it might be quite complex than simple inferences.

Then, it must also be mysterious to you that Kimi himself is such good friends with Vettel! That, Kimi himself says Vettel is honest, humble and straight-forward. May be what we saw from TV is not that straight-forward and it might be quite complex than simple inferences.

You are right it is completely mysterious that Kimi likes Sebi! Though I have the impression there are two Sebis, one palatable and one not.

Anyway I have to acknowledge that Sebi has picked UP support after Malaysia and 'get him out of the way'. To me the arrogance is unattractive and different from mere aggression, but that's taste for you. It's a surprise to me, anyway, but there it is in the votes. Mind you Schumi's support was always a mystery to me too.

It's especially a surprise tho that many Kimi supporters like Sebi, because for me Kimi is about a driver being his own unique self in the middle of the media circus, and his aggression is always respectful. So Kimi totally fits in with my values whereas Vettel doesn't at all.

Call me cynical, but I believe that has more to do with Hamilton than anything else.

Almost definitely, although he may not be the most liked, he remains the biggest headline grabber and that leads to his teammates receiving a lot of media attention just for being Lewis's teammate

When I voted yesterday my votes didn't show up (I don't think I did anything wrong) and it let me vote again today.

Is Ferrari really so unpopular these days? 5th team?

Almost definitely, although he may not be the most liked, he remains the biggest headline grabber and that leads to his teammates receiving a lot of media attention just for being Lewis's teammate

Lewis is the most liked after Kimi.

I went for Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Hülkenberg and Mercedes. Lewis is my main man, but I have deep deep respect for Alonso's pluckiness and consistency. I support Button as a Brit and because he's pretty darn funny, and Hülkenberg is the next guy I want to succeed. I have similar soft spots for Raikkonnen and Williams to most fans I think, although I don't think I could support Raikkonnen for a full championship challenge, I was an Alonso fan aged 10 in 2005....

I think the only drivers I actively dislike are Vettel and Di Resta, the rest seem pretty cool

Was totally lost in following Vettel's rating and forgot to realize how popular Raikkonen is! 64 out of 142 people like Raikkonen. That is almost 50% liking. That is mind-boggling Every other F1 fan likes him!? That is quite a popularity..

I voted for Vettel,thought i should explain my choice-
As with many Schumi fans,after the great man retired in 2006 i was a bit lost in terms of who to support,nobody seemed to capture my imagination the way the red baron did,that was until Seb came along.To be perfectly honest,I disliked him initialy,with the rest of the Vettel haters,I bashed him for lucking into a Newey rocketship in 2009,and in 2010 i actualy could not believe he won the title after crashing half of the time into other people.I actualy thought he was the most undeserving WDC in this current generation.
But in 2011 one incident completley changed my perception of Seb.Pirelli sent out invites to all the drivers to have a tour of their factory,only one driver bothered to turn up,it was Vettel. I then realised there may be more to this kid beyond what the biased English press wrote about him.For me that showed his utmost dedication to winning,I mean,he probably gained nothing from the visit from a racing point of view,but still wanted to understand the whole scope of the sport,not just the racing part.That for me was the winner,plus his pefectionist nature,we hear here how he is the first one to arrive in the paddock and one of the last to leave,how he works with his mechanics into the night,timing pitstops etc this are all traits of Schumi that he seems to possess and the best part of it all is that he learns from his mistakes,you cant say that about every driver.
He isnt perferct,i can give you that,his on track( and sometimes off track) personality can be tasteless and hard to like,exactly the same as Schumi,I hated it when he parked the car in Monaco qualifying,or running Hill off the track,but as with all geniuses i guess you have to be flawed in some way.
I wonder if any Schumi fans feel the same?

^ One thing to add about what you are saying about his mistakes. Everyone does mistakes. But the thing with great ones is they rarely repeat it. They learn from it and the sign of them being a student of the game is they learn from it and rarely repeat it. Vettel is that.

Edited by SpaMaster, 04 May 2013 - 10:23.

... I say I don't understand the comparison of Vettel and Schumacher at least if it is about personality...

I think Seb is a totally different personality than Michael.... I couldn't stand Michael when he was still with Ferrari I only grew to like him in his Mercedes days...

Seb is much more easy going and seems alot nicer... sure he hates loosing but he still seems quite different to me than Schumi...

not talking about work ethics here btw

The ones I sort of support are Rosberg, Perez and Bottas. And I've always had a soft spot for the whining Spaniard despite him being one of the arch-enemies.

Right now I'm a team fan only (McLaren) and that's why I'm trying to get to like Perez. Bahrain helped a lot in that

I wonder if any Schumi fans feel the same?

I used to be a huge Schumi fan during his first career. I see a lot of similarities when it comes to their determination and work ethic. But i don't think their personalities are comparable. I find Seb much more likeable as a person and i have yet to see him pull one of the really bad things that Schumi is infamous for (parking car in Monaco, crashing purposefully into championship rivals). Part of the forum and the press try to paint this picture of him, especially after Malaysia but really in comparison his worst antics have been harmless so far.

Kimi has been my favourite driver since 2000 and still is.
Vettel have looked his career closely since 2006 and he became my second favourite driver
Bottas promesing new talent and very likeable guy, so far has done great job and looking forward to see his results in a better car.
Webber have always liked him since 2002 minardi days, on his day he can challenge everyone.hopefully he will continue his career in F1!
Rosberg fast driver who still hasn't had the car to show his full skills.
Massa very likeable guy and can be very fast over one lap, sometimes even on races.

Lotus real racing team, with fantastic atmosphere everywhere.
Red Bull same as in Lotus but sometimes too political.
Williams same as Lotus and Red Bull, real racing team! Williams I have liked since I started watching formula 1 (at the late 1991) so I would say it's my all time favourite team and still among the favourites, hopefully they can improve their car soon and start competing at the very sharp end of the grid.
McLaren McLaren was the team that I followed among with Williams when I started watching F1, it's produces great looking cars and it has had good drivers..

Oh I see. Well either of the metrics works doesn't it, in terms of giving us a rank order, whether it's 40% of members or 12% of votes cast.

See it as if every member has one vote that can be distributed across more than one driver, so if you click 3 drivers, each one of them just get 1/3 point. It adds up fine. If I would be the first voter, each of my three choices would have 33% of the total 1 vote.

Is Ferrari really so unpopular these days? 5th team?

It's a difficult team to like, probably because there so much off track activities centering around Ferrari. I used to be huge Ferrari fan, but the totally unnecessary team orders during their dominace made me almost despise them. Often there where only two cars on track that could win and they did not race. After Dominicaly took over, I have gradually started to like them again and was probably getting quite close to be a "fan" until I read the recent deal with Bernie. A team should not get that much more than the competitors just because of the name. I figured that since they get so much extra support from Bernie, and problay FiA, they don't need mine. Red Bull is completely off my list for the very same reason. McLaren... I don't know, also a team hard to like.

I think Bernie and FiA should make sure that the money was distributed fairly in a sporting manner, judged from a sporting perspective, not by the number of important people you have that backs you. Now, almost anywhere you look you'll see ugly. Ugly hidden under velvet carpets.

Edited by ardbeg, 04 May 2013 - 15:28.

It's a difficult team to like, probably because there so much off track activities centering around Ferrari. I used to be huge Ferrari fan, but the totally unnecessary team orders during their dominace made me almost despise them. Often there where only two cars on track that could win and they did not race. After Dominicaly took over, I have gradually started to like them again and was probably getting quite close to be a "fan" until I read the recent deal with Bernie. A team should not get that much more than the competitors just because of the name. I figured that since they get so much extra support from Bernie, and problay FiA, they don't need mine. Red Bull is completely off my list for the very same reason. McLaren... I don't know, also a team hard to like.

I think Bernie and FiA should make sure that the money was distributed fairly in a sporting manner, judged from a sporting perspective, not by the number of important people you have that backs you. Now, almost anywhere you look you'll see ugly. Ugly hidden under velvet carpets.

I agree. The thing is that here only (32/164 atm) 19.5% of us support Ferrari, when Bernie reckons Ferrari are the heart and soul of F1 so they deserve loads of extra money, because F1 would cease to be if they left.

I agree. The thing is that here only (32/164 atm) 19.5% of us support Ferrari, when Bernie reckons Ferrari are the heart and soul of F1 so they deserve loads of extra money, because F1 would cease to be if they left.

I doubt he really believes that, but it is necessary to have an official reason. If he is right, GP racing was born without a heart and soul. If he is right, F1 now has a soul.

Is Ferrari really so unpopular these days? 5th team?

Without making a big deal out of it, I am living with impression that votes do travel with a driver. I haven't checked last year, but Lotus and Mercedes seems to be up this time around. RBR probably lost some Kimi's fans, but it is a bit mystery what happened to Alonso's fans and their vote.

Webber's support is also on ice.

Edited by Sakae, 04 May 2013 - 17:38.

Without making a big deal out of it, I am living with impression that votes do travel with a driver. I haven't checked last year, but Lotus and Mercedes seems to be up this time around. RBR probably lost some Kimi's fans, but it is a bit mystery what happened to Alonso's fans and their vote.

Webber's support is also on ice.

Yeah we identify a lot more with drivers than teams don't we. Tho Ferrari was supposed to transcend that, but they've gone down together with Nando. Not sure why Nando's dropped down.

Webber lost and Sebi gained from Malaysia, by the look of it. Red Bull gained too in spite of Multi21 code that was basically designed to deceive us, 'weak' Horner and the rest of it.

We love a winner.

Could be that some former Alonso's supporters migrated to Kimi (rebel and a newly found anti-hero).

I follow Webber, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Ricciardo. Teams wise I support Sauber, but also like to see STR doing well as I like the concept behind the team (to bring in good talent, rather than pay drivers).

Yeah we identify a lot more with drivers than teams don't we. Tho Ferrari was supposed to transcend that, but they've gone down together with Nando. Not sure why Nando's dropped down.

Webber lost and Sebi gained from Malaysia, by the look of it. Red Bull gained too in spite of Multi21 code that was basically designed to deceive us, 'weak' Horner and the rest of it.

We love a winner.

Alonso has faded because he didn't bring the expected results. It's been three seasons with no wdc and no wcc. He needs to get on with it to keep the attention of the Tifosi (at least the ones who attend this board!).

Edited by halifaxf1fan, 04 May 2013 - 18:56.

Well I can say that if this poll was made last year at the same time (and I would have been registered in the board already then) I would have.... and that may come as a surprise to you since I wrote last page that I dislike Alonso, but I would have voted for Alonso as well..

What made me dislike him was really his attitude on twitter (and off-track in general), I dislike him more than Webber, however they both have a chance that I might like them again when they change their attitude....

Edited by Sin, 04 May 2013 - 19:19.

Yeah we identify a lot more with drivers than teams don't we. Tho Ferrari was supposed to transcend that, but they've gone down together with Nando. Not sure why Nando's dropped down.

Webber lost and Sebi gained from Malaysia, by the look of it. Red Bull gained too in spite of Multi21 code that was basically designed to deceive us, 'weak' Horner and the rest of it.

We love a winner.

I don't think Vettel's popularity as seen from this poll has anything to do with Malaysia. I think he has always been quite popular. We even had discussion the last time you created this poll that the situation would be different if the voters are allowed to choose more than one driver instead of just one. My feeling is Vettel has this since he entered F1. His young boyish looks, creme-de-la-creme talent, charming personality, humour, etc. have garnered him fans right from his initial seasons. It was a breath of fresh air to people who saw some acrimonious drivers coming off 2007. Then the Monza 2008 victory well and truly put him on the stage.

As for Alonso: I have always believed his fan-following is mostly limited to Spain after from the tifosi that come from the team. There is a difference between liking and rating. I think quite a lot of people rate Alonso very highly, even would acknowledge as the best, but that does not mean they support him or like him with a lot of their heart. Raikkonen and Hamilton have always had more international support and following.

As for Ferrari: The Ferrari results might be skewed by the Raikkonen factor. I don't think many Raikkonen fans voted for Ferrari for obvious reasons. Ferrari have been shunned by them. If you discount the 70 odd Raikkonen votes out of the total 170 odd votes, Ferrari retains 33% liking which is quite good. This being an English-language forum, you can expect McLaren to have quite a bit of popularity and they are no slouch in popularity in general, and they have always been comparable to Ferrari. I still think Ferrari is the most popular team among the casual fans and those who come to forums are a bit more serious type. If the same poll had been made in a general site like BBC or CNN, the results would still favour Ferrari.

So part of the declining trend with Alonso and Ferrari could be because of the sudden influx of Kimi fans back to F1 after his sabbatical. And you know whom they hold responsible for the treatment meted out to him that led to him frustrated with F1 and leaving it.

Edited by SpaMaster, 04 May 2013 - 19:18.

Here's the poll from last August.

There were 290 voters if you want to work out those percentages.

Alonso	 [ 121 ]	 [10.97%]
Webber	 [ 66 ]	 [5.98%]
Vettel	 [ 58 ]	 [5.26%]
Hamilton	 [ 110 ]	 [9.97%]
Raikkonen	 [ 149 ]	 [13.51%]
Rosberg	 [ 35 ]	 [3.17%]
Button	 [ 68 ]	 [6.17%]
Grosean	 [ 68 ]	 [6.17%]
Perez	 [ 52 ]	 [4.71%]
Kobayashi	 [ 75 ]	 [6.80%]
Maldonado	 [ 17 ]	 [1.54%]
Schumacher	 [ 58 ]	 [5.26%]
Di Resta	 [ 19 ]	 [1.72%]
Massa	 [ 17 ]	 [1.54%]
Senna	 [ 31 ]	 [2.81%]
Hulkenberg	 [ 34 ]	 [3.08%]
Vergne	 [ 8 ]	 [0.73%]
Ricciardo	 [ 30 ]	 [2.72%]
Kovalainen	 [ 74 ]	 [6.71%]
Petrov	 [ 13 ]	 [1.18%]

So Vettel has made a big gain, along with Mass and Hulk, Rosberg. Alonso has dropped, as well as Grosjean, Webber.

undersquare: I think that August poll even if it is not one-driver poll, it was still somewhat biased towards selected favourites. Look at this sentence in the opening post:

"Please only vote for your main favourite(s) though, since you'll be rating them all the same in effect."

I think this is different to rating one driver as the same as the other driver, hence somewhat more stringent in accommodating than this poll. That may not explain all of it. The sample size is still small. The forum traffic constantly churns. I feel there have been a lot of new fans, and lot of the old fans may have moved on.

undersquare: I think that August poll even if it is not one-driver poll, it was still somewhat biased towards selected favourites. Look at this sentence in the opening post:
I think this is different to rating one driver as the same as the other driver, hence somewhat more stringent in accommodating than this poll. That may not explain all of it. The sample size is still small. The forum traffic constantly churns. I feel there have been a lot of new fans, and lot of the old fans may have moved on.

Well we're just trying to gauge popularity rather than individuals' changing their minds so the churn doesn't matter really. The old poll had 3.x votes per voter like this one so I reckon they're pretty comparable. Like this one the sentence just points out that if you vote 3 drivers you vote them all equally, and it looks like people have understood that fine .

Ha, if the no. of votes per voter is roughly the same, then I agree with your point. That said, the churn matters. We have somewhat different set of people than the old one and I won't be surprised if the views are different as well. But I have to admit there is a palpable decrease of Ferrari fervour in the forum recently. May be they are off given the long breaks between the GPs so far this season! I am not that surprised by Alonso's results, but I am surprised by Ferrari's results.

This site's biased in general may have something to do with that.

The # of twitter followers gives us a much better perceptive of who is followed the most worldwide.

1. Scuderia Ferrari
499,427 followers

2. McLaren F1
345,125 followers

3. Red Bull Racing
269,947 followers

4. Mercedes AMG Petronas
243,941 followers

5. Lotus F1 Team
221,539 followers

Ferrari are still the most supported team from a global view.

Edited by Kingshark, 04 May 2013 - 20:49.

Ha, if the no. of votes per voter is roughly the same, then I agree with your point. That said, the churn matters. We have somewhat different set of people than the old one and I won't be surprised if the views are different as well. But I have to admit there is a palpable decrease of Ferrari fervour in the forum recently. May be they are off given the long breaks between the GPs so far this season! I am not that surprised by Alonso's results, but I am surprised by Ferrari's results.

I think that in absolute numbers, if the poll system would allow it, when it comes to favorite team and favorite driver, Ferrari and Alonso would look better than they do now. A hardcore tifosi like Ferrari, not any other team. I think it is similar with those who like Alonso, it's him or no one. McLaren fans, on the other hand, they usually like Williams as well, and, since Kimi once was a McLaren hero, they might also like Lotus. So while the #1 favorite is McLaren, Lotus and Williams get bonus points. But Ferrari wont get one because they are "that other team", the enemy.
Same with drivers like Hamilton, Kimi, Vettel and Button, it is perfectly possible to support them all so you can give away 3-4 bonus points to others than your favorite. But Alonso does not get bonus points.

If you had to divide your point, like 50% McLaren, 20% Mercedes, 30% Lotus and 55% Hamilton, 30% Vettel and 15% Kimi, then it would look different.

Edited by ardbeg, 04 May 2013 - 21:03.

This site's biased in general may have something to do with that.

The # of twitter followers gives us a much better perceptive of who is followed the most worldwide.

1. Scuderia Ferrari
499,427 followers

2. McLaren F1
345,125 followers

3. Red Bull Racing
269,947 followers

4. Mercedes AMG Petronas
243,941 followers

5. Lotus F1 Team
221,539 followers

Ferrari are still the most supported team from a global view.

What proportion of people are on Twitter? And what do you get when you Follow an F1 team? A lot of junk tweets I suspect lol.

And what would you get if you looked at recent followings?

Anyway I still think trends on here are significant, they'll ripple out.

Ferrari are still the most supported team from a global view.

I am sure you're right, but following someone on twitter does not automatically make you a supporter. I would follow Kim Jong Un if he had an account, and if I had one, but I would definitely not support him

I think that in absolute numbers, if the poll system would allow it, when it comes to favorite team and favorite driver, Ferrari and Alonso would look better than they do now. A hardcore tifosi like Ferrari, not any other team. I think it is similar with those who like Alonso, it's him or no one. McLaren fans, on the other hand, they usually like Williams as well, and, since Kimi once was a McLaren hero, they might also like Lotus. So while the #1 favorite is McLaren, Lotus and Williams get bonus points. But Ferrari wont get one because they are "that other team", the enemy.
Same with drivers like Hamilton, Kimi, Vettel and Button, it is perfectly possible to support them all so you can give away 3-4 bonus points to others than your favorite. But Alonso does not get bonus points.

If you had to divide your point, like 50% McLaren, 20% Mercedes, 30% Lotus and 55% Hamilton, 30% Vettel and 15% Kimi, then it would look different.

I agree to certain extent with what you are saying about Ferrari. But I don't feel the same way about Alonso. Why would Alonso have exclusive followers as opposed to say, Hamilton?

Even about Ferrari, I can understand the tifosi not supporting other teams. But other fans may still like Ferrari.

This site's biased in general may have something to do with that.

The # of twitter followers gives us a much better perceptive of who is followed the most worldwide.

..

Some drivers themselves don't have a twitter account. Sorry, twitter following can't be that accurate. The Autosport forum is one of the more sensible forum and a well-moderated one. It is a class above anything I have seen so far. I don't think it can be just dismissed as being biased. This is a fair representation of a good section of serious F1 fans.

This site's biased in general may have something to do with that.

The # of twitter followers gives us a much better perceptive of who is followed the most worldwide.

1. Scuderia Ferrari
499,427 followers

2. McLaren F1
345,125 followers

3. Red Bull Racing
269,947 followers

4. Mercedes AMG Petronas
243,941 followers

5. Lotus F1 Team
221,539 followers

Ferrari are still the most supported team from a global view.

It has been proven repeatedly that twitter followers and facebook likes does not show real value or popularity.

Well we're just trying to gauge popularity rather than individuals' changing their minds so the churn doesn't matter really. The old poll had 3.x votes per voter like this one so I reckon they're pretty comparable. Like this one the sentence just points out that if you vote 3 drivers you vote them all equally, and it looks like people have understood that fine .

It would have been really interesting if you could have one poll with more then one driver option, and another poll where you could just choose one driver in the same thread.

Fair enough, I just find it difficult to believe that Ferrari is only the 5th most popular team in F1 overall, not that it really matters to me, though.

Out of the top 5 teams, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes are household names. Though Red Bull is popular because of their energy drinks, no one outside of F1 knows the racing team.

McLaren and Lotus are not household names, only great car enthusiasts or F1 fans know them.

Edited by Kingshark, 05 May 2013 - 06:10.

^ Being a household name is irrelevant if people don't even know about the names' F1 team. We are talking of F1 popularity. Undoubtedly Ferrari is the most popular team. But McLaren has a fair degree of popularity as well, and among F1 followers it is comparable. Similarly, Williams and Lotus have also enjoyed comparable popularity in the past. For all the talk about Ferrari, they were not the most popular or most successful Italian team when they started out together with few other Italian teams.

It would have been really interesting if you could have one poll with more then one driver option, and another poll where you could just choose one driver in the same thread.

Yeah it would be interesting, and I thought about doing that, but in the end I decided it would all look a bit huge and daunting and cut down the number of voters.

Fair enough, I just find it difficult to believe that Ferrari is only the 5th most popular team in F1 overall, not that it really matters to me, though.

Out of the top 5 teams, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes are household names. Though Red Bull is popular because of their energy drinks, no one outside of F1 knows the racing team.

McLaren and Lotus are not household names, only great car enthusiasts or F1 fans know them.

I voted for Red Bull and I never ever drank Red Bull ... too scared I might get a heart attack....

didn't follow them much when they were still Jaguar, back in the days there was only Jordan for me .... Frentzen