Breaking news
Formula 1
Wolff: Mercedes dominance hasn't cost F1 fans
Toto Wolff has dismissed suggestions Formula 1 is becoming less attractive as a result of Mercedes’ recent domination, saying the series is “on a really good path”.
Luke Smith
Edited: Feb 15, 2020, 12:40 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Mercedes won 15 out of 21 races last year en route to an unprecedented sixth consecutive set of F1 titles, extending its streak of championship wins that dates back to the 2014 season.
The domination of one team has led to criticism regarding the attraction of F1 to both fans and car manufacturers who might consider joining the grid.
But Mercedes chief Wolff stressed there were still a number of appealing storylines to follow, highlighting the team’s fight with Ferrari and Red Bull through 2019 as being a major reason for fans to watch F1.
“Mercedes winning a sixth championship, you can say, does this make people turn off? But the point is there was still variability and unpredictability,” Wolff said.
“You wouldn’t know before the weekend if a Ferrari was on pole position or if a Red Bull was on pole position, whether Max Verstappen would win.
“The battle between the generations is something that is a great attraction: [Sebastian] Vettel against [Charles] Leclerc, Verstappen against [Lewis] Hamilton. This is something that attracts the audiences.
“For me the best news is that we’re growing our audiences and fanbase with the younger generations. And I think, overall, we’re on a really good path.”
F1 reported a total TV audience of 1.9 billion for 2019, its highest since 2012, and enjoyed impressive rises across its digital channels and social media.
Read Also:
- Mercedes explains how W11 design tackles cooling issues
- Vandoorne handed Mercedes F1 reserve duties for 2020
- Gallery: Mercedes's new W11 from all angles
Wolff said that F1 was bucking the global trend of declining TV viewers even while shifting toward more pay TV deals.
“You would imagine that linear TV is something that should be quietly shrinking, and it’s not for Formula 1. It’s actually one of the few sports that is growing the audiences, whilst we are moving certain countries behind the pay wall,” Wolff said.
“We’re looking back at the year 2019 with almost 2 billion viewers, 419 million unique viewers, almost 90 million viewers over a weekend and an average of more than 20 million live viewers for the grand prix.
“We’re the fastest growing sport on social media, even compared to all the American leagues. You can see that we’re on a good track. Liberty is doing a good job by opening up social media, which wasn’t the case before.
“These are huge numbers compared to any other sport out there. So in terms of global attraction for the sport, it’s there.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Renault: F1 set for "game of chicken" in 2020
Next article Mercedes Formula E project now helping F1, after ‘initial strain’
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Luke Smith
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
Formula 1
Formula 1 Jul 22, 2025
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Formula 1
Formula 1 Apr 19, 2023
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
Formula 1
Formula 1 Feb 18, 2023
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
More from
Mercedes
‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes
Formula 1
Formula 1 1 d
‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes
Kimi Antonelli meets Italian president Sergio Mattarella
Formula 1
Formula 1 1 d
Kimi Antonelli meets Italian president Sergio Mattarella
Latest news
Yamaha may not be competitive immediately in MotoGP's 850cc era, says Pramac
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
2 h
Yamaha may not be competitive immediately in MotoGP's 850cc era, says Pramac
You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller
MotoGP
Qatar GP
You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller
Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
6 h
Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario
Feature
Discover prime content
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.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe