Report: The Numbers That Suggest the Growing Outlandish Popularity of McLaren F1

Perhaps no other team has made the kind of groundbreaking recovery back to the top than McLaren. We all remember McLaren as a struggling mid-table team, with Fernando Alonso once comparing it to a GP4 car. But in the space of the last three-four seasons, the Papaya team has risen from the ruins. And all of it has been orchestrated by one man, Zak Brown.

Brown is the CEO of the McLaren Racing division, and under his leadership, the team emerged as the ‘best of the rest’ contender in the last few years. But his more noteworthy achievement is making the team a powerhouse in terms of a brand that is loved more than the rest.

This is even more apparent in a report released by Conviva that ranked F1 teams based on the total cross-platform engagements. According to that report, the one-two was shared by title rivals Mercedes and Red Bull.

But despite a disappointing season that started well but spiraled downwards towards the end, McLaren ranked third. They had 181,605,201 total engagements, falling just 5 million short of second place.

And it’s no surprise considering the results of a global survey conducted by F1 in 2021.

McLaren ranked as the most popular team, Norris second most popular driver

In a survey conducted on the biggest level to date, in which voters from 187 countries took part to decide the most popular Formula 1 team and the most popular Formula 1 driver, McLaren took the one-two.

One-two as in, one McLaren were voted the most popular team in the world, getting 29.5% of the vote ahead of Red Bull (19.8%), and Ferrari (17.9%). And two, Lando Norris was voted as the second most popular driver in the world with 13.7% of votes, falling just short of the first Max Verstappen who got 14.4% of votes.

In 2022, the Papaya team with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo at the wheel, aim a little higher in the championships as well. And a little higher here means ‘title-contender’ level high.

This is something their fans and CEO Zak Brown would hope doesn’t remain that unrealistic of a goal in the coming season.

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