Norris glad to influence young fans after F1 survey result
Lando Norris felt glad to have a positive influence on the youngest generation of Formula 1 fans after his popularity was revealed in the biggest-ever global survey on Thursday.
The results of the F1 Global Survey commissioned by Motorsport Network in partnership with F1 and Nielsen Sports were released ahead of the United States Grand Prix after responses from more than 167,000 fans in 187 different countries.
Max Verstappen was named as F1’s most popular driver, being listed as favourite by 14.4% of fans, but McLaren driver Norris managed to finish second overall with 13.7% ahead of 2017 vote winner Lewis Hamilton.
Norris comfortably stood out as the favourite driver with fans 24 and under, and enjoyed unrivalled popularity from female fans as F1’s audience showed signs of becoming more diverse and younger.
“A win for me is obviously a win on-track, but having these little things off-track as well for the team and for myself, it's nice,” Norris said in reaction to the survey result.
“I obviously do these other things back home, like streaming on Twitch and so on, which I've not actually done that much of recently. But it's just to interact with the fans a little bit more. And I think that's cool.
“But also knowing I can have a bit of an influence on that younger generation of kids growing up and that age group, and even still with some of the older ones, then it's nice to know that they're supporting me.
“That’s a very cool thing to hear.”
Norris also helped McLaren win the vote as fans’ favourite team, with its on-track revival this year being reflected in a significant upswing in popularity as its vote share almost doubled from 15.8% in 2017 to 29.5% in 2021.
Norris and teammate Daniel Ricciardo - who finished fourth in the driver vote - helped McLaren rank #1 with 40% of fans in the 16-24 age group. McLaren also topped the vote in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and Brazil, as well as ranking first in Europe, the Americas, Middle East and Africa.
“I'm happy for the team, I guess I'm a small part of that,” Norris said.
“[It’s] just what we do as a team, the things we do for the fans as well and with our partners and so on. A lot of it is to be part of the fans as well. Formula 1 is not just, ‘can you do well on track?’
“There's a lot of other things, and one of them is entertaining the fans and allowing them to see the other side of you, not just as the racing driver, but as just the person who you are.
“So yes, it’s nice that we get our feedback. It's nice that we're doing a good job with that.”
Ricciardo called the survey result “encouraging” for McLaren, proving the value of its off-track events and activities to promote the team.
“We do a lot of activations away from the circuit, or away from the Sunday 3pm stuff,” Ricciardo said.
“We are putting in effort to engage and interact with the fans, and it's paying off. It's cool to give them some more access and I guess it's good to know that it's worth it.
“The team does put a lot of effort into that and I've always been pretty chilled around stuff like that.
“Maybe I like the camera, I don't know! And Lando as well is much the same, so I think the team is pretty happy with that.”
Related video
Sainz: "Quite different" feeling of 2022 F1 cars an open secret among drivers
Vettel hopes Verstappen has better F1 title fight against Hamilton than he did
Rolex 24: Cadillacs lead BMW in fourth practice at Daytona
In the GTP teams’ penultimate practice ahead of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, the Cadillac LMDh of Action Express Racing led a similar Ganassi car, while Nick Yelloly drove the BMW M Hybrid V8 into third.
No Ferrari number one driver, but Vasseur won't hesitate to "take action"
New Ferrari Formula 1 boss Fred Vasseur says there will be no number one driver at the team this season, but he won't hesitate to "take action" if needed.
Winward Mercedes replaces injured Auer with Morad for Rolex 24
Lucas Auer will sit out the Rolex 24 at Daytona after suffering back injuries in practice and will be replaced by GT4 racer Daniel Morad at Winward Mercedes.
WRC developing experimental propulsion class
The World Rally Championship is developing a new demonstration class that will allow manufacturers and teams to develop and experiment with alternative propulsion methods.
Why Vasseur relishes 'feeling the pressure' as Ferrari's F1 boss
OPINION: Fred Vasseur has spent only a few weeks as team principal for the Ferrari Formula 1 team, but is already intent on taking the Scuderia back to the very top. And despite it being arguably the most demanding job in motorsport, the Frenchman is relishing the challenge
The crucial tech changes F1 teams must adapt to in 2023
Changes to the regulations for season two of Formula 1's ground-effects era aim to smooth out last year’s troubles and shut down loopholes. But what areas have been targeted, and what impact will this have?
Are these the 50 quickest drivers in F1 history?
Who are the quickest drivers in Formula 1 history? Luke Smith asked a jury of experienced and international panel of experts and F1 insiders. Some of them have worked closely with F1’s fastest-ever drivers – so who better to vote on our all-time top 50? We’re talking all-out speed here rather than size of trophy cabinet, so the results may surprise you…
One easy way the FIA could instantly improve F1
OPINION: During what is traditionally a very quiet time of year in the Formula 1 news cycle, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been generating headlines. He’s been commenting on massive topics in a championship that loves them, but also addressing necessary smaller changes too. Here we suggest a further refinement that would be a big boon to fans
How can McLaren keep hold of Norris?
Lando Norris is no longer the young cheeky-chappy at McLaren; he’s now the established ace. And F1's big guns will come calling if the team can’t give him a competitive car. Here's what the team needs to do to retain its prize asset
What difference did F1's fastest pitstops of 2022 make?
While a quick pitstop can make all the difference to the outcome of a Formula 1 race, most team managers say consistency is more important than pure speed. MATT KEW analyses the fastest pitstops from last season to see which ones – if any – made a genuine impact
When F1 'holiday' races kept drivers busy through the winter
Modern Formula 1 fans have grown accustomed to a lull in racing during winter in the northern hemisphere. But, as MAURICE HAMILTON explains, there was a time when teams headed south of the equator rather than bunkering down in the factory. And why not? There was fun to be had, money to be made and reputations to forge…
What Porsche social media frenzy says about F1’s manufacturer allure
Porsche whipped up a frenzy thanks to a cryptic social media post last week, and though it turned out to be a false alarm, it also highlighted more just why manufacturers remain such an important element in terms of the attraction that they bring to F1. It is little wonder that several other manufacturers are bidding for a slice of the action.
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.