Schumacher voted most popular F1 driver
20th March 2010, 9:30 by Keith Collantine 110 Comments »
It may not surprise many people to learn that Michael Schumacher is the most popular driver in F1.
But his margin of victory shows just why his return to F1 this year is huge news. In last month’s FOTA/LG/F1 Racing survey he garnered more than twice as many votes as the next most popular driver, Fernando Alonso, with 19.5% to 9.7%.
In third place was a driver who isn’t even racing in F1 any more – Kimi Räikkönen.
Over 90,000 fans responded to the survey earlier this year. Of course what we really want to find out is what they had to say about F1 and how they responded to questions such as whether F1 races should be shortened. Expect those results soon.
Read more: FOTA launch F1 fan survey
footfarmer said on 20th March 2010, 9:36
The lie that time demands of memory.. let’s see if he still is by the end of the season..
He might just be the greatest but ‘popular’?!
HG said on 20th March 2010, 12:58
because you disagree with it does not mean it is a “lie”, people remeber what he did, no one is perfect
MigueLP said on 21st March 2010, 17:37
i hate alonso and im an ferrari fan
alex said on 22nd March 2010, 14:09
i hate ferrari and i’m alonso fan
Edu said on 22nd March 2010, 19:08
I hat both Alonoso and Ferrari, I’m a Hamilton fan
Jay said on 22nd September 2010, 13:13
i hate Ferrari and Alonso and Lewis. I’m a kimi fan.
David said on 22nd March 2010, 23:57
“The lie that time demands of memory.. let’s see if he still is by the end of the season..
He might just be the greatest but ‘popular’?!”
Eh? Michael has been the most popular F1 driver in every single fan survey done where he raced (05, 06, 10). It’s because he’s the most popular F1 driver, yeah?
TommyB said on 20th March 2010, 10:04
Not surprising, I guess he has a lot of fans and he’s one of those people if you did a vote of drivers people dis-like it would probably be the same outcome Schumacher then Alonso…
Now I think about it that would be an interesting poll.
Praveen Titus said on 20th March 2010, 12:15
Most “fans” of Schumacher are Indian and Asian, and being Indian myself I know that most Asians don’t know anything deep about the sport. They think Schumacher is 7 times better than the other drivers because he is a 7-time champion.
The fact is that a set of circumstances came together for Schumi to win 5 titles in a row for Ferrari. Other talented drivers in similar situations might have achieved similar results. I believe Alonso certainly will. But it’s hard to convince Indians watching cricket and Bollywood masala films all day long that F1 isn’t Schumacher alone.
There have been other greater drivers and there will be others as well. Whether they become 7-time or 10-time champions isn’t the criterion. Those who follow the sport closely should know that.
Statistics can never fully give the right impression of a driver’s talent in motor racing, though some have had the luxury to be able to show their talent through their performance statistics, and Schumacher is certainly one among them.
steph said on 20th March 2010, 13:26
Agree that stats don’t show the whole story but “The fact is that a set of circumstances came together for Schumi ” this is because Schumacher made his own luck and helped create those circumstances by his character and through being extremely talented. No other driver has been able to do it or really come clsoe so it has to say something.
James_mc said on 20th March 2010, 13:41
I’m not sure it was meant as a dig at Schumi as such, just that he took full advantage of the situation he was presented with, anyone else would have done the same. Yes, he galvanised the team with Brawn and Toot; but he didn’t sabotage Mercedes’ engines etc.
varun said on 20th March 2010, 15:44
keith,
Please remove the above comment. it degrades Indians and Asians.
Praveen Titus said on 20th March 2010, 17:17
Hardly. It only tells the fact. If you watched Star Sports pre-race coverage of the Bahrain Grand Prix, they had a survey where they asked some spectators who they thought would win this year’s championship. And guess what, 99% of them said Schumi!
They never read the circumstances, they just thought(and 1 person even said that)because Schumi was a 7-time champ he would just come and conquer. How farther from the truth could it be!
That’s what I meant. F1 and general motorsport awareness is pretty low in the Asian region, for some reason. I’m not degrading, I’m only advocating the need for greater awareness about the sport.
Keith Collantine said on 20th March 2010, 17:51
I don’t agree, but I don’t agree entirely with Praveen’s comment either.
I think fixating on Indian and Asian fans here is a mistake. I suspect that in a lot of markets that are new to a particular sport, who don’t have a home-grown talent to follow (Karun Chandhok notwithstanding), there will be more support for the most successful participants.
It’s not just a Schumacher thing, it’s not just an India thing and it’s not even just an F1 thing.
Ferrari have loads of support outside of Italy. I suspect 99.9% of Manchester United fans don’t have an Old Trafford postcode.
Success breeds popularity, whether from fairweather fans or just those who appreciate watching the best at work. It’s not unique to a particular person, sport or nation.
K. Chandra Shekhar said on 20th March 2010, 13:59
Please change your perspective. Asians and yes Indians do have knowledge of F1 and yes they may be a minority but are not vocal. If we keep on giving the credit to CIRCUMSTANCES than to the drivers we have to do so for evry year. The 2 chapionships of Alonso are circumstance, Kimi’ is a circumstance as well as Lewis. In 2005 the real champion was Kimi but luck was not on his side. If we go on like this every Championship, every race is debatable. Forget it. Give the credit to Drivers. Schumi is one of the greatest driver who is living with us today. I know your Indian mentality, we recognise a person only after his death. Wake up man. Senna, Michael Jackson and some greats are no more. We F1 fans should be happy that we are actually seeing Schumi instead of saying “Once upon a time there used to be German driver called Schumi…” I’m not biased. I like Schumi, Senna, Lewis, Kimi, Alonso, etc., in one word all the F1 drivers.
George said on 20th March 2010, 14:21
I didn’t realise Michael Jackson was an F1 driver, I thought it was impossible he could become more awesome.
Mike said on 20th March 2010, 15:23
If the Indian mentality is anything like any other countries mentality it is both hugely varied and indeterminable.
My mentality is that everyone else is a silly person and that cake is good. that being said I do not currently have cake, so I am sad.
Fortunately I have weetbix, and if you squint it looks like cake, ergo, I am ok.
What a silly thing to say.
Circumstances is silly, if they were right, My brother could win 150 championships, Still there would probably have to hand out 25 titles each year and replace the other drivers with chickens. actually that would be interesting…
K. Chandra Shekhar said on 20th March 2010, 17:00
MJ is not connected with F1 that everyone knows. Please see to context in which it was used. Recently we lost MJ. Before that so many used to say so many things about him. But as of now they miss him.
NDINYO said on 23rd March 2010, 9:57
George George George … i can’t believe your comment about MJ … did you read what Chandra was saying or did you read and not understand where he was coming from, because then that is cultural differences and you are excused.
Praveen Titus said on 20th March 2010, 17:38
Circumstances prevented Gilles Villeneuve and Stirling Moss from becoming world champions. That says it all about the importance of situations in Formula 1.
Icthyes said on 20th March 2010, 18:47
I couldn’t help noticing the similarity of your username to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subrahmanyan_Chandrasekhar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrasekhar_limit).
Coincidence, or inspiration?
Paolo said on 21st March 2010, 21:29
Explain ? If only that were so
varun said on 20th March 2010, 15:40
that is totally BS. its damming and lacks point. The above write seems to think he’s a guru of F1.
I am an Indian and I like him. I know a lot about F1(not everything like the above write thinks he knows).
Stop abusing Indian. They know more than you do.
BarneyDaGumble said on 20th March 2010, 16:17
Why, there’s nothing he said that was particularly outrageous. F1 is relatively new to India, so inevitably Indians are going to follow the most famous drivers, and obviously by far the most famous driver in the last 15/ 20 years has been Michael Schumacher.
It’s the same with football. I go to work with a few Indian people, they all like football, but they all support Man Utd or Chelsea simply because they are the best, and have the highest profile in India (just like Schumi).
Praveen Titus said on 20th March 2010, 17:08
Finally someone sees sense! I never degraded anyone, neither did I pretend to know everything. If presenting facts is called “abuse”, then we should build castles in the air.
varun said on 20th March 2010, 17:29
it sound degrading to me as an Indian. You just know a few and I know a lot of Indians. so you cannot draw conclusions from a small set of ppl.
cyanide said on 20th March 2010, 17:22
Way to generalise. Next time, find a bigger sample set to base your “research” on. And no, Star Sports pre-race drivel isn’t a reliable resource. And plural of anecdote is not data.
Praveen Titus said on 20th March 2010, 17:33
I didn’t “base my research” on the Star Sports pre-race stuff. I just quoted an example.
K. Chandra Shekhar said on 20th March 2010, 17:43
Yes, in Star Sports they showed a PreRace Poll. But most of them were Europeans. There weren’t any Indians.
wasiF1 said on 21st March 2010, 0:54
I think the fact of the matter is that F1 really became very popular in Asia in countries like Bangladesh (where I live), India, Pakistan, Srilanka was at the tail end of 90′s & at the beginning of 2000′s those years Schumi & Ferrari were at the top of the game.Secondly,yes it’s true many people at leastin my country don’t go deep about F1. They only care about race winners.
Rahim.RG said on 21st March 2010, 4:55
mate u r not the only indian here…..we know why we r here & what is F1…..It is true that indians are totally involved into cricket…by which i get irritated too but that doesnt mean that they dont know anything about F1….People would only take part in the survey if they knew anything about f1 or if they are into this sport…..
Praveen Titus said on 22nd March 2010, 5:19
When I said something about Indians I never meant those who follow the sport like you or Varun or others in F1 Fanatic. Why do you take it personal guys?
I’m an Indian myself. I used to always cheer for Schumacher, till 2002 when I realized that there just wasn’t any genuine competition for the Ferrari. The Bridgestone tyres just seemed to be made for the car and the F2002 and F2004 just had no one to fight against! Everyone knows that. But what those dominant years did is nothing to discredit Schumi, but created in people watching the sport an idea that Schumacher is invincible. But anyone closely following F1 would know that it is only if the car, tyres, team and driver gel together can such a level of dominance come.
People knowing about F1 would only take part in the survey – agreed. But “knowing about” something and “knowing something intimately” are different. Chew on that for a while and you’ll see what I mean.
I only said about the general attitude of people in India about F1, from what I observed since those dominant Ferrari years in the early 2000s. If you guys think what I said is wrong or “degrading” I’m sorry. But frankly, I can’t see what the big issue is.
Suzy said on 21st March 2010, 11:35
So just because you don’t like the poll result you think it’s because people who voted were either ignorant about the sport or didn’t know what they were doing. Yeah, right.
I’m not surprised by the result. Schumacher is maybe not so popular in Britain, but the World isn’t just made of Britain. He is very, very popular in a lot of countries, including my Eastern European country. And that’s not because of the ignorance of the people!
Jomy John said on 22nd March 2010, 7:50
Dude, dont even speak about Indians. You got no freaking right to speak about our mentality. Everyone has his own heart and he idolizes a sportsman because of the performance rendered. Have you even watched F1 the past 15 years or so? The inspirational drives, the do-or-die overtaking moves, not to forget getting Ferrari to the most outstanding team ever in the history of F1. The guy is a genius. Statistics do not give the right impression, that is so freakin true – becuz if Schumacher were to be drivin the fastest and the best car all his career he would have won 10+ championships. And if all Indians and Asians adore Schumi, its becuz he has been the single most influential reason for making Formula1 as popular as it is today. I mean without him – 1997,1998, 2000, 2006 etc would have been a complete drag.
I too think that Schumacher will win this years Championship. I dont care bout the circumstances right now – All I know is that if there is one driver that can push forward a team to victory in the most hard-pressing circumstances – its gotta be Schumi.
Wait till we have a wet race and the rainmeister in actino – Hopefully, you will shut up and stop categorizing your countrymen.
liaz said on 29th March 2010, 2:54
well i dont know how old u are jomy john but despite your efforts to defend indians u only demonstrate how new u are to the sport…f1 became a great spectacle just because of Senna and his battles against Prost…post Senna era is just a compromise of safe driving digital tecnology and team orders.no driver can “get” a bad team to victory!! only money can do this and great mechanics. comparing drivers of different cars and against different opponents is just dumm and serves only time consuming purposes,as for who is the most popular driver ever lived that is easy to answer and if you want to be called a motorsport fan u should know this answer! its not about who u like but who this is!!
Lady Snowcat said on 20th March 2010, 10:06
And if all Kimi fans had taken part he’d have been higher…
Because he’s no longer in F1 I didn’t bother with the survey…
Keith Collantine said on 20th March 2010, 10:19
Are you still watching F1? (I’m guessing ‘yes’ if you’re here!)
TommyB said on 20th March 2010, 10:24
It’s strange Kimi fans stop watching F1 because he has gone. If my favourite driver left I’d still watch and follow his new career too.
Personally for me F1 > Favourite driver
Enigma said on 20th March 2010, 10:40
What’s even stranger is that many people stopped watching f1 after Schumi left – because it wasn’t interesting anymore. I don’t know what was so interesting about one driver endlessly winning.
beneboy said on 20th March 2010, 14:24
You’ve got to remember that a lot of those who stopped watching probably only started watching F1 because of Schumacher.
They weren’t real F1 fans, just general sports fans who got caught up in the hype.
A similar thing happened with Senna, a couple of friends of mine could tell you everything about F1 from when Senna was racing but they know nothing about what came before or what’s happened since.
The same thing happens with other sports too, basketball got loads of Micheal Jordan fans, golf has got loads of Tiger Woods fans and darts has got loads of Phil Taylor fans. Few of them are real fans of the respective sport, they’re just into the one world wide superstar that they follow and will probably find themselves a new hero from a new sport once they retire.
Mike said on 21st March 2010, 14:35
beneboy, that’s a dangerous place to go and you could upset many people with that. having started watching in 97 as a 7 year old, come 2006, with Schumacher having been my hero I stopped watching for a year after his retirement, as the gap his retirement created just could not be filled.
I would be deeply offended if you were to suggest I was not a real F1 fan.
beneboy said on 22nd March 2010, 18:46
Mike
I’m not suggesting anything of the sort mate, you’ve re-joined the collective after a short break.
That’s a whole different world away from the casual sports fan who follows whatever global superstar happens to be cool.
vettelfan said on 20th March 2010, 13:52
@TommyB:
I totally agree. Even if Vettel or Hamilton (my favourites) left I would still watch F1.
George said on 20th March 2010, 14:23
Totally agreed, to steal a football term, glory supporters get on my nerves.
Lady Snowcat said on 20th March 2010, 22:14
Hi Keith…
I have been to Sweden and am heading to Jordan for the WRC as I have developed a sudden interest in rallying (both Sweden in person and Mexico over the internet at home were a tad more gripping that Bahrain)…
But I will go to a couple of F1 races with my F1 friends (not nearly as many as in the last few years)…I just don’t follow F1 with the same intensity this year…
I apologise that I haven’t been on your site much because of the “No Kimi” factor but do keep an eye on F1 stuff via James Allen’s tweets so caught the Kimi reference there and popped on over for a post!…
Well done for the success of your site…
Keith Collantine said on 21st March 2010, 0:01
Glad to hear it! Have fun…
yelrom said on 20th March 2010, 10:44
I actually started watching F1 when Shumacher left. It was much more interesting. This vote thing isn’t that accurate anyway, im pretty sure not every single F1 fan has voted, if I did Shumi wouldn’t even be in my top 10.
TommyC said on 20th March 2010, 11:01
this servey would have had a pretty wide sample right? cause i’m guessing for non-f1 fans, schumacher would be the only name they’d recognise.
Tombong said on 20th March 2010, 16:11
Non F1 fans?? Non F1 fans voluntarily wasting their time following the survey link from some F1 sites?? and then reading patiently and carefully for about 25 minutes to fill the survey?? Is there any irrational non F1 fans likely to do that??
Jomy John said on 22nd March 2010, 7:54
lololol tombong.
BarneyDaGumble said on 20th March 2010, 12:00
Schumi’s popular?! What next, water is wet?
The surprise for me is that Hamilton wasn’t in the top 3, but then I suppose it’s only in the UK that he seems really popular, everywhere else seems to hate him
rampante said on 20th March 2010, 12:42
I don’t know about hate. Here in Italy he has a reasonable following taking into account he drives for Mclaren and beat Massa by a point to the WDC. Nobody denies that he does have a lot of talent. The UK press love to big people up just to knock them down again. Schumacher was the most successful driver of all time and that would explain the votes. If you really follow the sport you either love or hate him (more so in the UK) and if you don’t he is the first name that comes to mind.
Søren Kaae said on 20th March 2010, 13:07
I dislike him for the same reason. Timo Glock’s “mechanical failure2 was a cheat…
Mouse_Nightshirt said on 20th March 2010, 14:15
*yawn*
I can’t believe people still aren’t over the whole conspiracy thing.
Mouse_Nightshirt said on 20th March 2010, 14:17
I should say ‘non-existant’ conspiracy.
rampante said on 20th March 2010, 15:41
This is not a conspiracy thing. He beat him and thats that. The conspiricy died here a week after the event.They don’t like him because he won and Massa did’nt.
BarneyDaGumble said on 20th March 2010, 16:05
If you want to have pointless discussions about groundless conspiracy theories head over to YouTube. F1F is a place for facts and reasonable opions
Icthyes said on 20th March 2010, 18:51
Actually the UK is a hotbed of dislike for Hamilton, partly down to the media building him up so they could knock him down again, like all success stories and the media. They went from Hamilton to being great, to being a bottler, back to being great, then to being rubbish compared to Button, to Button also being a bottler.
This is why I don’t read newspapers anymore except for the football results.
sato113 said on 21st March 2010, 2:52
sure maybe the media dislike him, then love him.
but I wouldn’t say the UK is a ‘hotbed of dislike’ for the guy! everyone here loves him!
Icthyes said on 21st March 2010, 20:58
If only that were so!
A Singh said on 20th March 2010, 12:08
I doubt this result will go down well with most F1 Fanatic readers.
Keith Collantine said on 20th March 2010, 17:54
Actually I don’t think we’ve had a “most popular driver” poll in a year when Schumacher’s been competing, so I’ve no idea.
Mike said on 21st March 2010, 14:37
Can we? oh can we please?
Of course it would turn your blog into one rather extended argument.
Ads21 said on 20th March 2010, 13:29
Its probably the wrong question to ask to see who is the most popular. I would argue that Sebastian Vettel is the most popular driver as I have yet to find any F1 fan prepared to say a bad word against the man. Although the likes of Schumacher, Alonso and Hamilton have larger numbers of people who follow them they also have large numbers of F1 fans who loathe them. Schumacher is the driver with the most fans, but it is the drivers who are more likable such as Vettel, Raikkonnen and Button who are the most popular with all F1 fans.
kowalsky said on 20th March 2010, 13:53
people get carried away for his seven titles, and the fact that they grew watching him win every weekend.
Osvaldas said on 20th March 2010, 14:33
Well he is 7 times world champion, so people like his might.
Tombong said on 20th March 2010, 14:46
The survey doesn’t lie, Most popular is the same as “top of mind”. I’m sick of any denial arguments saying that the people vote for Schumi are classified as casual fans. You know what, i don’t believe if there’s some significant numbers of casual fans willingly to fill a survey that could cost them 15 minutes more or less.
Also another interesting interpretation from the survey, top three the most popular Formula 1 drivers in the world is related to Ferrari. Don’t deny it.
James_mc said on 20th March 2010, 14:53
Ferrari are very popular, anyone see the connection?
Tombong said on 20th March 2010, 15:05
The connection to the most popular drivers you mean? Fans of Ferrari support the team (around the world), the scuderia come first then the drivers, it means raikkonen has increased his number of fans greatly since joining ferrari and it would be wise for you to expect the same happened to alonso very soon. Ever watched f1 1996 championship years? look at the spectators, see how the combination schumi and ferrari fascinates fans of f1 although they’re realize that the world champion ambition is out of reach at that time.
Calum said on 20th March 2010, 15:36
The facts are there, 90,000 people voted and Schumacher was most popular. Say what you want but you can’t deny their was quite a buzz coming from F1 when it was announced Schumacher was coming back.
BarneyDaGumble said on 20th March 2010, 16:10
In the light of this it would be great if we could have an F1 Fanatic survey over which driver is most popular. I know it’s already been done, but Kubica/ Raikkonen fan boys kind of ruined the last one. Mabye next time stop taking votes after 24 hours or so before word spreads to the Kimi fan club?! Keith do you have a link to the last favourite driver survey?
steph said on 20th March 2010, 17:12
I reckon (partly as it’s a British site) that Hamilton or even Vettel as he’s so likeable would probably win. Be interesting to see results though especially now Kimi has gone
James_mc said on 20th March 2010, 17:18
Yeah, Schumi is widely disliked in Britain, probably partially due to the British media but also because of his run-in with Hill in 94.
Great driver nonetheless.
Icthyes said on 20th March 2010, 18:58
Schumacher cheated to win races.
Schumacher cheated to win championships.
Schumacher cheated on his school exams.
Schumacher cheated at Monopoly.
Schumacher cheated me at cards and cost me $1000.
Schumacher cheated on his wife with mine.
Hell, Schumacher probably cheated with the survey and made himself the most popular driver in the results…
Jarred Walmsley said on 20th March 2010, 19:03
Have to be honest here, i’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not. I’m thinking yes
ashes1991 said on 21st March 2010, 0:08
Well said, I think its disgusting how a cheat can be the most popular personality, how sad!
David A said on 21st March 2010, 0:45
Well, everybody else thinks it’s fine that one of the greatest drivers ever is the most popular personality.
ashes1991 said on 21st March 2010, 1:25
How can you call someone a great driver when they repeatedly cheated?
Everybody hates Piquet (and possibly Flav and Pat) for cheating, this was just as bad and as dangerous as driving back on the track to take another driver out.
David A said on 21st March 2010, 2:08
To be honest, it’s getting tiresome seeing people claim Schumacher isn’t a great driver. Keep making excuses if you want, but the fact is the majority of Schumacher’s achievements didn’t require him to drive into Hill, Villeneuve or anyone else.
Mike said on 21st March 2010, 14:46
I like Piquet…
That and Senna wasn’t exactly the most upstanding citizen, In fact, I can’t think of many of the “greats” who were…..
Actually Hill is the only one who comes to mind disregarding those from “ye old” days.
He was great, He is known all around the world, he has won more of pretty much everything than anyone else etc etc etc.
Alexander the Great made his living killing countless others and surely you would accept his greatness, well, now Schumacher doesn’t sound quite so bad does he? ^^
ashes1991 said on 21st March 2010, 18:39
I never said he wasn’t great, yes good driver but helped by the amount of times he cheated!
Maksutov said on 23rd March 2010, 6:38
well said David A
chris g said on 22nd March 2010, 12:07
Schumacher cheated to win races.
Schumacher cheated to win championships.
Schumacher cheated on his school exams.
Schumacher cheated at Monopoly.
Schumacher cheated me at cards and cost me $1000.
Schumacher cheated on his wife with mine.
Hell, Schumacher probably cheated with the survey and made himself the most popular driver in the results…
I agree