The four F1 drivers voted more ‘popular’ than Lewis Hamilton including Lando Norris

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Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver in Formula 1 history. He’s level with Michael Schumacher for seven world championships, but he outranks him for race wins.

Hamilton’s victory at Spa before the summer break, inherited following Mercedes teammate George Russell’s disqualification, was the 105th of his career. He also scored his record-extending 201st podium.

The 39-year-old has enjoyed a revival of late, ending his two-and-a-half-year drought at the British Grand Prix in July. Mercedes have seldom been able to compete for wins during F1’s ground effect era.

From 2014 until 2020, Hamilton had been the dominant force in F1. Only Nico Rosberg was able to interrupt a run of six titles in seven years.

Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari threatened to challenge in 2017 and 2018 before falling away. The combination of Hamilton and Mercedes was simply too strong.

Just as Lando Norris has called Max Verstappen’s recent dominance ‘boring’, some inevitably grew to resent the Hamilton monopoly. But the almost universally warm reaction to the British GP suggests his popularity has grown following Mercedes’ regression.

Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc more popular than Lewis Hamilton among F1 fans

Popular F1 news outlet The Race ran a poll in June asking 2,300 fans from 103 countries to name their favourite drivers. And the results have just been revealed.

Norris comes out as the most popular driver, with 15% of fans cheering him on. Hamilton’s future teammate Charles Leclerc is second, but a little way back at 11%.

McLaren boast the best-liked duo on the grid, with Oscar Piastri third at 10%. Fernando Alonso (also 10%) edges out longtime rival Hamilton (9%).

Reigning world champion Verstappen was seventh with 8% of the vote. Carlos Sainz (9%), Alex Albon (7%) and RB duo Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo (both 4%) also featured in the top 10.

Lewis Hamilton’s former engineer pinpoints where he ‘lets himself down’

Some of Hamilton’s critics have questioned his mentality when he’s unable to win races. And one ex-Mercedes performance engineer says Hamilton doesn’t push flat out unless he senses a chance of victory.

In this respect, he ‘lets himself down’ from time to time. Having graduated from backmarkers Williams, Russell would theoretically be more enthusiastic than a driver who’s accustomed to domination.

The same engineer believes Russell is more ‘mature’ than Hamilton when it comes to studying and applying data. But he can’t match his ‘incredible feel’ for the car.

Ferrari certainly have no doubts about his attitude. Indeed, Leclerc believes Hamilton will motivate the whole team when he joins at the start of 2025.