Button first to 1,000 supporters on F1 Fanatic

2012 F1 season

21st May 2012, 16:3021st May 2012, 15:54 | Written by Keith Collantine

Since F1 Fanatic introduced the ability to pick your favourite drivers and teams, one driver has led the way.

Now Jenson Button has become the first to pass the milestone 1,000 fans on F1 Fanatic – just under one-eighth of the 8,100 active members on the site.

Lewis Hamilton is second ahead of Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber. McLaren remain the most popular of the teams.

Button also has the most followers on Twitter out of the active Formula 1 drivers.

With that in mind, let’s take a fresh look at who’s hot and who’s not on the site – and, for the first time, whether those popularity trends are reflected on a much bigger social network.

Most popular drivers on F1 Fanatic

Jenson Button: 1006
Lewis Hamilton: 750
Michael Schumacher: 530
Kimi Raikkonen: 524
Mark Webber: 493
Fernando Alonso: 471
Paul di Resta: 449
Kamui Kobayashi: 441
Sebastian Vettel: 392
Robert Kubica: 366
Heikki Kovalainen: 312
Nico Rosberg: 301
Bruno Senna: 280
Sergio Perez: 220
Felipe Massa: 174
Daniel Ricciardo: 171
Nico Hulkenberg: 133
Vitaly Petrov: 101
Timo Glock: 97
Romain Grosjean: 94
Pastor Maldonado: 51
Jean-Eric Vergne: 49
Pedro de la Rosa: 35
Narain Karthikeyan: 35
Charles Pic: 17

Notes on the most popular drivers:

The McLaren drivers remain the most popular duo on the grid, though Button has one-third more supporters than Hamilton
Comeback champions Schumacher and Raikkonen have moved up to third and fourth – the latter gaining eight places since the start of the season
Alonso has also gained a place but Di Resta has dropped from third to seventh
The new winners of 2012 are yet to break into the top ten – Rosberg 12th and Maldonado 21st

Driver	Supporters	Rank	Change
Jenson Button	1006	1	=
Lewis Hamilton	750	2	=
Michael Schumacher	530	3	+1
Kimi Raikkonen	524	4	+8
Mark Webber	493	5	=
Fernando Alonso	471	6	+1
Paul di Resta	449	7	-4
Kamui Kobayashi	441	8	-2
Sebastian Vettel	392	9	=
Robert Kubica	366	10	-2
Heikki Kovalainen	312	11	-1
Nico Rosberg	301	12	-1
Bruno Senna	280	13	=
Sergio Perez	220	14	=
Felipe Massa	174	15	=
Daniel Ricciardo	171	16	=
Nico Hulkenberg	133	17	+2
Vitaly Petrov	101	18	=
Timo Glock	97	19	-2
Romain Grosjean	94	20	+4
Pastor Maldonado	51	21	=
Jean-Eric Vergne	49	22	=
Pedro de la Rosa	35	24	-4
Narain Karthikeyan	35	24	-1
Charles Pic	17	26	-1

Most popular drivers: F1 Fanatic vs Twitter

https://www.racefans.net/charts/stats.csv

Driver	Jenson Button	Lewis Hamilton	Michael Schumacher	Kimi Raikkonen	Mark Webber	Fernando Alonso	Paul di Resta	Kamui Kobayashi	Sebastian Vettel	Robert Kubica	Heikki Kovalainen	Nico Rosberg	Bruno Senna	Sergio Perez	Felipe Massa	Daniel Ricciardo	Nico Hulkenberg	Vitaly Petrov	Timo Glock	Romain Grosjean	Pastor Maldonado	Jean-Eric Vergne	Pedro de la Rosa	Narain Karthikeyan	Charles Pic
F1 Fanatic supporters	1006	750	530	524	493	471	449	441	392	366	312	301	280	220	174	171	133	101	97	94	51	49	35	35	17
Twitter followers (000s)	941.504	808.251			331.861	529.862	117.294	51.409			145.445	153.639	407.143	190.605	87.162	26.26	66.76	70.967	68.491	40.728	190.498	19.344	129.095	102.31	11.479

Notes on F1 driver popularity on F1 Fanatic and Twitter:

The popularity of F1 drivers on Twitter compared to F1 Fanatic has much in common. The most striking difference is that the midfield drivers generally have proportionally less support, with some significant exceptions (Senna, Maldonado).
Button and Hamilton are the most followed F1 drivers Twitter – at least now that Barrichello, with 1.6 million supporters, has gone to IndyCar.
Not all F1 drivers are on Twitter so there’s no data for Schumacher, Raikkonen, Vettel and Kubica.
How long a driver has been using Twitter for and what languages they Tweet in will have an effect on their follower count. Alonso has picked up over half a million followers since joining Twitter in March.
For a list of official F1 drivers and teams Twitter accounts see the F1 Twitter directory

Show your support

Want to make sure your driver and team preferences are reflected in these charts? Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in with your F1 Fanatic account. If you’ve not got one, sign up for one here.
2. Go to My Account > Profile > Edit and select F1 teams and drivers.
3. Make your choices and click Save Changes.

2012 F1 season

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Image ?�?� McLaren/Hoch Zwei

Author information

Keith Collantine

Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...
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70 comments on “Button first to 1,000 supporters on F1 Fanatic”

matthewf1 (@)
21st May 2012, 16:37
hmmmm…..1006 supporters obviously like the sound of excuses at every race :-S
1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  21st May 2012, 16:42
  @matthewf1 Maybe they understand that if a driver doesn’t explain to his engineers what’s wrong with his car they won’t be able to do anything about it.
  1. matthewf1 (@)
    21st May 2012, 16:47
    Are Lee McKenzie and Natalie Pinkham McLaren engineers now then?
    1. James (@goodyear92)
      21st May 2012, 17:59
      +1
    2. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      21st May 2012, 18:39
      @matthewf1 You didn’t specify what you were referring to – I took it to be a reference to his team radio messages which is what a lot of people seem to (over) react to.
      1. Gogog
        21st May 2012, 19:11
        Wouldn`t He just repeat what He said in the Car.
        But not so loud :]
      2. damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
        21st May 2012, 19:43
        I see a lot of people saying he complains when there’s a lack of grip, which is kind of funny because if he didn’t complain they’d never fix it, as Keith said.
    3. JCost (@jcost)
      23rd May 2012, 7:48
      Ouch!
  2. Gogog
    21st May 2012, 18:29
    +1
    Dont forget that Jenson is talking/shouting while wearing crash helmet, head phones and a screaming V8 behind him, while all the time trying to report valuable real time car conditions.
    All the moaning is defentaly done off radio :-)
    1. Gogog
      21st May 2012, 18:31
      Doh,
      +1 Keith
2. zicasso (@zicasso)
  21st May 2012, 20:01
  With all due respect… For me Jenson only seems to complain, even with Brawn it was just annoying complaint after complaint, and only does well when other drivers are not at their best due to poor weather conditions or because they have car problems, in my opinion.
  He is a world champion only because of the double diffuser advantage Brawn managed to build at the beginning of that season, then he was just a regular driver with no pulp or circumstance struggling to score points.
  To be fair the best all round driver is Alonso, then Hamilton – for the excitement and passion he brings to the sport.
  1. Mike (@mike)
    22nd May 2012, 2:30
    Complaint = Feedback to engineers perhaps?
  2. Mike (@mike)
    22nd May 2012, 2:31
    I find Hamilton boring -.- It’s one disaster after another…
    1. Julian (@julian)
      22nd May 2012, 3:24
      It’s one disaster after another
      Some would argue that is never boring ;)
  3. suka (@suka)
    22nd May 2012, 10:19
    The best all round driver is perhaps not what one would always want to support…
  4. Zodman
    22nd May 2012, 13:11
    So why didn’t Barrichello win the championship that year???
    1. Poul Winther (@poul)
      22nd May 2012, 13:21
      Nobody said Jenson sucks – just that he is boring and average. Besides Barrichello was only 18 points down, in 3rd place. now that says A LOT!
      1. MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
        22nd May 2012, 13:37
        Boring and average enough to beat Hamilton over the course of the season last year…
      2. Poul Winther (@poul)
        22nd May 2012, 13:48
        @ Chris: We both know that Hamilton beat himself – HARD!
  5. BasCB (@bascb)
    23rd May 2012, 18:57
    To be honest, we hear Button only complaining about ‘lack of grip’, ‘oversteer’ or an ‘undrivable car’, while Hamilton only tells us his ‘tyres are going off’ or asking ‘what are you guys doing’. At the same time Alonso is heard whining about just about everything that encounters him on track, and we hear Massa being talked through every bump, corner and straight and Vettel is giving us his annoying victory cries.
    All off this is just because these are the things our broadcaster is airing for us, not because these are the only things said (there’s another 19 drivers on track), but because they think it interests us to hear what is going on. They might be wrong, but that is hardly the drivers fault.
Alexander Martynov (@alex94)
21st May 2012, 16:56
Button, Hamilton & McLaren are the best!) Statistics confirm this!))))
1. David-A (@david-a)
  21st May 2012, 17:22
  @alex94 – Best =/= Most supported :)
2. JCost (@jcost)
  23rd May 2012, 7:52
  Like a friend of mine says all the time: “use statistics to make your lies look like facts”
  It’s just a popularity thing, you see Di Resta above Vettel, don’t you?
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
21st May 2012, 17:21
You can clearly tell this is a British site!
1. John Doe
  21st May 2012, 17:34
  I thought the ‘.co.uk’ at the end of its address was supposed to be a dead giveaway.
  1. Gogog
    21st May 2012, 18:35
    Sorry but thats COTD material
  2. James Robertson (@mclarenboy0310)
    22nd May 2012, 0:13
    Lol haha you get me. Funny that 80% of the grids main sites are in england
2. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  21st May 2012, 18:41
  @vettel1 No it isn’t – this is a site for F1 fans, regardless of their nationality.
  As has been pointed out countless times before, only around a third of users on the site are British:
  https://www.racefans.net/groups/f1/forum/topic/where-f1-fanatic-readers-are-from/?topic_page=4&num=15
  The domain suffix has no bearing on whether people outside Britain can view the site.
  1. Gogog
    21st May 2012, 18:53
    Sorry to quadruple post but what i find hilarious in the age of the World Wide Web, on the dawn of the Cloud, IP,s still talk of geographical locacitions.
    Err Go Sauber
    FA Cup an Champions League Cup next to a Monaco winners Cup.
  2. sumedh
    21st May 2012, 19:33
    What also needs to be pointing out is that they are the single largest nationality on this site and are three times bigger than the next biggest group of users.
    1. Gogog
      21st May 2012, 20:02
      Oh come on, give Keith some slack.
      He`s just collating Data for you,
      :-)
    2. Tim Katz (@timkatz)
      21st May 2012, 21:49
      Yes, this site is in the English language, so it’s hardly surprising that it’s mostly used by English speakers. But it’s definitely not a British dominated web site.
  3. Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
    21st May 2012, 21:59
    @keithcollantine – That wasn’t the point of my statement, the point is that it is a site that was started in Britain and hence is more likely to have British members; I’m sure there are many people of different nationalities. And also Jenson Button is a very popular driver with fans, so is likely to have many supporters.
    1. Gogog
      21st May 2012, 22:12
      Hmm, the stats wont hold that out,
      Iam a Ham supporter rooting for Peroz.
  4. Fixy (@)
    21st May 2012, 22:17
    One point – British people (and Americans) are the most likely to be able to read and write in English, hence all British people can take part in the website, whilst many others in other countries can’t. Then there’s more F1 fans in the UK than in other countries, but that doesn’t count.
    1. Gogog
      21st May 2012, 23:21
      Um with that logic this post should be in Manderin followed by English then Spanish, accoriding to the lexicon 2020
      1. Gogog
        21st May 2012, 23:32
        And thats without 1/6billioth speaking Hindi, but they keep that quiet
    2. astonished (@)
      21st May 2012, 23:50
      Only second to the great respect I have for the British knowledge of the F1 world is my preference to this site to polish my lacklustre English :-)
Nixon (@nixon)
21st May 2012, 17:38
De la rosa and Karthikeyan tied, shocker.
Rahim.RG (@rahim-rg)
21st May 2012, 18:10
well India is Populated… hehe :)
spacák (@spacak)
21st May 2012, 18:22
366 supporters of Robert Kubica reminds me, has anyone (of polish readers here) any piece of information about him? Any interview with him in local media? Official streams keep silent, his return is apparently out of question, (otherwise, he would sure spread it), nevertheless I appreciate any of how is he.
1. phildick (@phildick)
  22nd May 2012, 10:53
  @spacak Unfortunately not. He has always very consciously avoided the media and it’s still the case (I would say even more) after the accident.
Lothario
21st May 2012, 18:39
Hardly surprising :) I think I speak on be-half of most F1 Fanatics when I say, he is such a likeable guy!
1. James (@goodyear92)
  21st May 2012, 19:15
  I don’t think he’s anymore likeable (off the track) than half of the drivers on the grid. I don’t find JB’s constant moaning about the car’s “problems” when he isn’t on the pace particularly appealing, and he’s done that all through his career. It’s not the he isn’t likeable at all, I just don’t understand why anyone thinks he is more than most of the other drivers. I personally feel Kamui is probably the easiest to like, and his surprise style driving is thrilling to watch.
Todfod (@todfod)
21st May 2012, 19:22
Jenson’s definitely not going to win another WDC… but at least he wins popularity contests!
1. evolutionut (@evolutionut)
  21st May 2012, 19:31
  justin bieber is also very popular :)
  1. Todfod (@todfod)
    21st May 2012, 19:33
    Lol. Never thought of it that way
    1. zicasso (@zicasso)
      21st May 2012, 20:03
      +1
      Never will.
  2. Bernard (@bernard)
    21st May 2012, 22:56
    Bieber seems to be well versed in dancing around a stage for a couple of hours. Once the curtains go up, ‘ol twinkle toes on the other hand admittedly struggles with his balance. ;-)
2. disgruntled
  22nd May 2012, 1:25
  – blown diffusors in 2011 he couldve very well been WDC
  1. David-A (@david-a)
    22nd May 2012, 1:41
    Without blown diffusers, Vettel would have been 2011 WDC, since he was on fire. Button only even beat Alonso by 13 points.
    1. raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
      22nd May 2012, 3:49
      To be fair @david-a we don’t know that. Maybe in 2011 without the blown diffuser the Red Bull would’ve been just about as competitive as this year. We don’t know that for sure and I’m not saying that… but… cause and effect, you know?
3. Kimi4WC
  22nd May 2012, 4:41
  With the quality of the grid and a team mate he now got, I seriously doubt it, even if he gets a Brawn like car.
  Anyway, loved Jenson while he was in karts, his European title says a lot about his character and the way he won it. And in F1, when he get setup as he likes it, hes very fast.
pking008 (@pking008)
21st May 2012, 22:09
I’m British, I live outside the UK at the moment and I only visit English F1 sites. Most Brits living outside the UK also probably visit this site just like me but we all count as foreign foreigners because we have foreign IPs. In addition to a third of all visitors directly from the UK, a good chunk of other country visitors are also Brits. So my good guess is the people voting for Button a pretty much Brits otherwise it would be hard for Button to win this contest ahead of other more likeable drivers. So definitively there is a British bias to the result.
1. Mike (@mike)
  22nd May 2012, 2:41
  And here I thought that it was generally accepted that Button was one of the most likeable driver in the field…
  1. pking008 (@pking008)
    22nd May 2012, 21:54
    you thought wrong. a bland personality does not likeability make. im also glad you use the word “one of”. Yes there are other drivers in my opinion far more likeable than Button. Look let me tell you something. in the early/mid 90s a German tv station i think RTL ran a competition of the most attractive driver. I’m sure you’ve been watching F1 long enough to remember the mid 90s. these include the likes of Schumacher senior and junior, Villenueve, Hill, Coultard, Hakkinnen, Irvine Barichello, Damon Hill etc. I voted that Damon Hill was the most attractive. You may ask why. well, I am British and I voted only based on national sentiments especially since I didnt like Schumacher at all. Did I really think Hill was the most attractive? Hell No. But you know something else? Michael Schumacher won that contest if I’m not mistaken. Was Michael the most attractive racer on the field in the early to mid 1990s? I dont think so but he won anyways. Why? because this competition was ran in Germany. I’m sure you get my drift of where i’m going with this re JB current poll position.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
21st May 2012, 22:48
It would be great if Kubica sorted himself out with Twitter. We don’t hear much from him at all and it would be nice to do so. I appreciate that he probably doesn’t want to remind himself that he’s ‘missing out’ on all things F1 but he did and still does have a great legion of supporters.
Mike (@mike)
22nd May 2012, 2:43
What I find interesting… And this is far more interesting that who comes from where…
Is that you can see a significant trend for success leading to popularity.
I think that is a significant stat for the F1 world to consider.
BILL.
22nd May 2012, 2:48
REALLY ?
Go, HAMILTON !
1. Blackmamba (@blackmamba)
  22nd May 2012, 11:53
  Go where ? Is he going to Mercedes then?
  1. BILL.
    23rd May 2012, 0:10
    Watch monaco Closely Next SUNDAY And, With A Bit Of Luck, You Will Find Out.
    Go, HAMILTON !
OOliver
22nd May 2012, 6:42
I guess he can be the next prime minister and moan endlessly about the budget.
1. Todfod (@todfod)
  22nd August 2012, 13:11
  LOL.. and about the trade ‘balance’ of payments
Poul
22nd May 2012, 9:50
Regardless of how non-British the site is, I very much doubt that Jenson would lead any popularity contest unless the poll had a British dominance. Personally I am Danish but a (very) long term McLaren supporter. My completely unbiased perception of Jenson is that he is a bit boring, a bit of a whiner, not a very strong personality and not much of a “racer” in the old school sense of the word. He is pretty fast when his equipment is working optimally and there’s not too much traffic but I never found him much of a fighter at all.
I strongly dislike someone like Fernando’s ego-diva attitude, yet I have to admit that he is a very complete racer with a fantastic balance between aggressor and virtuoso on top of the unstoppable desire to just win. Over the past couple of seasons I have found Lewis to have quite a lot of the same attitude (good and bad) but unfortunately with much less balance. I am sure there is room for improvement as he matures and to watch Lewis is to me about a factor 100 more exiting than watching Jenson.
As far as the perfect package in terms of racing skills and likability no one beats Kimi in my opinion. So down to earth, never ever any bitching about the team or the competitors and yet just blistering fast – sometimes even far beyond the “perceived to be” best. You have to admit that his popularity is “the real deal” considering that his native country has a population of just 4 million citizens.
Let me “finish” off with a couple of famous quotes:
Q: Lewis Hamilton said that winning his first race felt better than having sex. How about you?
KR: Maybe he never had sex!
Q: Kimi, have you ever got angry about anything, and jumped up and down and shouted?
KR: Yeah, many times and of course you’re not happy if you retire or something but I guess it happens more in normal life than in racing.
Q: Can you give us examples?
KR: No, not really.
Q: What are the kind of things that make you angry in normal life, as you say?
KR: If you keep asking questions like those.
1. srrkp
  22nd May 2012, 18:01
  Lol. That **** is funny. . . .
Schumi the Greatest (@schumi-the-greatest)
22nd May 2012, 11:09
There’s no doubt that Button being top of that pile is down to a large proportion of this sites members being A) British or) a Brit living outside the UK (Points A and B seem exactly the same there on reflection…oh well)
Typically What I’ve noticed growing up in the UK is that the underdogs are favoured. Although Jenson received a bit of criticism when he was dubbed a “Playboy” in the UK media in the early 2000s he has always been well liked by the media.
Hamilton on the other hand is a bit more arrogant and sure of himself and that doesn’t tend to sit well with British people. But I dont think many people would say out of the 2 that Button is the more naturally talented, he’s been driving well the last 2 years while Hamilton has been in a slump. I’ve always found Jenson to be a bit of a whiner….I noticed it more during 2009 when the brawn was starting to struggle he would constantly be on the radio complaining how bad the car was. As Keith rightly pointed out, a driver needs to give his engineers feedback, but its just the tone and the way he says it….completely different to say Alonso (or hamilton early 09) who told them they had no balance, then drove the wheels off it taking it higher than it was capable of.
1. Sem (@05abrahamsemere)
  22nd May 2012, 12:41
  +1. JB may be nice, but usually nice drivers aren’t special material. Button isn’t aggressive enough (excpet for in Australia, but Hamilton wasn’t comfortable and would usually be much more aggressive) to be considered in the same light as Hamilton and Alonso. He just seems to drive as if it was a summer holiday. This is why, in one of the most competitve seasons, Button won’t be champ. Lewis is my title hope this year if he continues his new approach (sorry JB)
2. Todfod (@todfod)
  22nd August 2012, 13:15
  I find it puzzling that the British would support Button over Hamilton. One driver is nothing more than a circumstancial champion and the other has the potential to be one of the sports greatest.
Girts (@girts)
22nd May 2012, 12:07
Anyone who believes that Button complains / whines too much, should listen to Kurt Busch’s outburst at a recent NASCAR race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3_8LsVfFxc
pluk (@peteleeuk)
22nd May 2012, 14:35
I tell you what, why don’t we all bang on about the F1F result only being because this is a British site and ignore the fact this bit of fun matches very closely with the very unBritish and totally international Twitter follower stats, shall we?
If you don’t agree with the masses it does not make you right and everyone else wrong. Regardless of what you think if him as a driver (and I think he is awesome and still underrated by many), I think Button comes across a s a thoroughly down to earth, likeable and accessible chap – I’m going to guess that is why he is so many peoples favourite.