10/12/2017
NEWS STORY
As Mike Lawrence so rightly says in his latest feature, there is only one unit of measurement which matters when judging the success and popularity of a movie, show or sporting event, and that is "the bum upon a seat".
Well, despite the almost 50% drop in overtaking and the continued domination by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, according to Formula One Management, the 2017 F1 season was a success, with an 8% increase on 2016 in terms of fan attendance at races.
According to FOM, in excess of four million fans attended this year's races, with events like Azerbaijan recording a 58% increase on the previous year.
In total, according to FOM, 13 of the 20 races saw a "swell in crowd numbers", with the Canadian and Austrian events both witnessing increases of 60,000 on 2016 "across the weekend".
"The global average attendance per event was 203,570," said FOM in a statement, "while for race day, the estimated average attendance was 76,722, which is more than the average attendances reported for the UEFA Champions League, the Premier League and the Bundesliga in 2016/17, the NFL in 2016 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup."
"The 2017 season was a great spectacle, on and off track, thanks to drivers, teams and, most of all, fans, the beating heart of our sport," said Sean Bratches, the sport's commercial boss.
"An attendance of more than 200,000 per event means that for 20 weekends per year, the population of a medium-sized city visits a race track to watch to a Formula 1 Grand Prix. Our duty is to make each of these events even more entertaining to unleash what is the greatest racing spectacle on the planet."