F1 fan opinions are shifting in 2022
Formula 1 is a sport that depends on change, with engineers constantly altering their cars from weekend to weekend to make sure they’re as competitive as possible. But that’s not the only aspect of the sport that’s changing. The United States has recently seen a significant increase in F1 fans due in part to Netflix’s series “Drive to Survive.” To get a better understanding of this growing fan base, we took to the internet to evaluate their sentiments on drivers and teams, the events of last season, and predictions for 2022. Read on to find out what F1 fans are thinking.
Fan favorites
Even with the budget cap, F1 is a very expensive sport, and some teams have trouble coming up with the required money each year. Sponsors are vital for funding a team, which means that race wins and popularity with the fans are crucial for each team’s success. Starting with the drivers, we compared the number of positive mentions they received in 2021, their Instagram followers, and their 2021 ranking.
Perhaps inevitably, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton received the most positive mentions throughout 2021 and boasted nearly three and a half times more Instagram followers than rival Max Verstappen. The current world champion was the second most liked driver, with longtime fan favorite and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel coming in a distant third. Kevin Magnussen received the lowest number of positive mentions throughout the year, though this is likely due to the late announcement of his return to F1 rather than a high level of negative sentiment.
Looking at teams, Mercedes, the current Constructors’ Champion, received the most positive mentions this past year followed by F1’s oldest team, Ferrari. Results from the 2021 season weren’t always synonymous with a team’s likability. Haas racked up over 10,000 positive mentions despite finishing last in 2021, failing to score a single point. In terms of Instagram followers, two distinct groups emerged with the difference between the first and fourth most-followed team being only 1.1 million followers and the difference between the fifth and tenth being only 700,000. However, the gap between the two groups was a massive 5.5 million.
Clash of the titans
One storyline that dominated the 2021 season was the intense battle for the championship between Hamilton and Verstappen. The two drivers collided several times throughout the year. And while Verstappen took more criticism following each encounter, support for Hamilton waned as the season wore on.
The tenth race of the year saw the first run-in of the two drivers, prematurely ending Verstappen’s race while Hamilton went on to victory. The stewards dished out a 10-second penalty to Hamilton, but fans didn’t necessarily agree with the decision as less than half of his mentions were negative. Four races later, the two came together again, prematurely ending both of their races. This time the stewards punished Verstappen and gave him a three-place grid penalty at the start of the next race in Russia. Again, the public also sided with Hamilton over Verstappen.
The penultimate race of the season included one final encounter between the two drivers. Following what was deemed an illegal overtake, Verstappen was asked to concede his position to Hamilton. In the process, Hamilton ran into the back of Verstappen’s car. The stewards determined that Verstappen was at fault, giving him a 10-second penalty. Fans were substantially more divided regarding this verdict, with both drivers receiving near equal amounts of negative mentions. The pair headed into the final race of the season with high tensions and comparable points.
A controversial conclusion
A safety car in the final laps of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix turned a seemingly easy victory for Hamilton and Mercedes into a race that was equal parts memorable and contentious. Fans were immediately split in their opinions as to who was in the right, but regardless of who they supported,+ the majority were not happy with the decisions that were made.
As a whole, Mercedes received slightly more negative mentions than Red Bull. But Red Bull team principal Christian Horner received substantially more flack than his Mercedes counterpart, Toto Wolff. In the end, the fans also turned against Hamilton, giving him his highest percentage of negative comments for the season. As we tracked mentions through the end of 2021, it’s possible this percentage reflects criticism not only of his race but also his decision to skip the 2021 FIA gala awards ceremony.
The primary decision-maker during the incident, race director Michael Masi averaged about 65% negative mentions throughout the season and following the race, it only barely increased to 66% negative. A recent FIA report released about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix found there to be “human error” in the decision-making process, but defended that Masi had “acted in good faith.” Masi is no longer race director, though, and new rules regarding unlapping cars have been introduced this season.
With 69% of his mentions being negative, the person who received the most criticism was Nicholas Latifi whose battle with Mick Schumacher for 15th place resulted in the crash that brought out the safety car. Fans chastised the driver for being so aggressive while in last place and out of the points. Latifi defended that he would race hard until the checkered flag.
New year, new cars
As if the 2021 season didn’t have enough drama, the 2022 offseason and preseason also brought heightened levels of excitement as significant car regulations were introduced to improve racing ability. While many believed the new standards were quite strict, in February the teams released a surprisingly diverse array of cars.
The car drawing the most positive preseason buzz was Alfa Romeo’s C42. The car suffered from reliability issues during testing, but both Bottas and Zhou were able to score points when the season began in Bahrain. The new Mercedes W13 received the least amount of positive feedback, with the team even admitting the car was not where they wanted it to be. The poor reviews didn’t necessarily predict that Mercedes would have the worst car on the track but did foresee an uncharacteristically poor performance from the Constructors’ Champion of the last eight years.
While roughly in the middle in regard to public opinion, Red Bull set the fastest lap time during testing. Misfortune fell upon the team, though, when in the last laps of the Bahrain Grand Prix both Verstappen and Perez experienced fuel system problems forcing their cars to retire, stripping Verstappen of a podium position. The team left Bahrain without any points.
Rerouting
In addition to the new cars, the 2022 season is also special, as it is planned to be the longest ever in Formula 1 history with 23 races. However, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the FIA canceled the scheduled Russian Grand Prix in Sochi. It’s likely that the race will be rescheduled elsewhere, but as of writing, that location has yet to be announced.
When looking at possible replacements, fans were most favorable toward the Portuguese Grand Prix. Prior to the pandemic, this event had not been held since 1996. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, however, the Portuguese Grand Prix was brought back in 2020 and 2021 at the Algarve International Circuit and seems to have left quite a positive impression on fans. Second, was the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring which hasn’t been held since 2019. And in third was the Qatar Grand Prix, hosted for the first time last year at the Losail International Circuit.
Trends for 2022
In 2021, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton continued their reign as fan favorites. But there are some early indicators that fans may be dispersing to other drivers and teams. Negative comments against Hamilton increased throughout the season, and Mercedes took more criticism following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix than Red Bull. Furthermore, the W13 was viewed the least favorably of all 2022 cars and was off-pace at the start of this year’s season.
While at the end of 2021 it looked as though Verstappen and Red Bull would easily fill the vacated places as fan favorites and best on the track, high favorability, and performance from Ferrari’s F1-75—as well as moderate levels of popularity for both of their drivers—make them a formidable force as well. As we saw in 2021, though, it’s difficult to predict who will end up champion at the end of the season.
Methodology and limitations
We scraped 1,048,575 posts and comments from February 1, 2021, to March 8, 2022, on 19 different Formula 1-related subreddits: Formula 1, Formula Dank, F1 Technical, Haas F1 Team, Williams F1, Scuderia AlphaTauri, Aston Martin Formula 1, Alpine F1 Team, McLaren Formula 1, Scuderia Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, Mercedes AMG F1, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen 33, Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc, Carlo5 5ainz, Daniel Ricciardo, and Lando Norris. Additionally, we performed a sentiment analysis on each post and comment to determine if it was positive, neutral, or negative.
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