Throughout the regular season, F1 drivers took to social to build their brands beyond the speedway. While Hamilton captured the momentum from his in-race success, many of the biggest names in Formula One — specifically Fenando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo, and Max Verstappen — continued to move up the ranks and establish massive audiences. Now that the checkered flag has flown, we look back at the social MVPs of the F1 regular season.
While Hamilton comfortably led all drivers in engagements and total video views, Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo battled it out for second place. Alonso and Ricciardo both sit near the top in nearly every category. The three of these drivers, along with 17-year-old fan favorite Max Verstappen, illustrate the impact F1 drivers create for the sport and its fans on social.
F1’s athlete-driven leaderboard Below is the performance analysis for every active Formula One driver of the 2018 regular season on social. We break down the data by audience, activity, engagement, and growth on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram from the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 25, 2018, until the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina on November 25, 2018.
Audience
LA Lakers — 138.9 million followers
Golden State Warriors — 109 million followers
Daniel Ricciardo — 4.3 million followers
Max Verstappen — 3.5 million followers
Sergio Pérez — 3 million followers
LA Lakers — 138.9 million followers
Fernando Alonso — 2.5 million followers
Sergio Pérez — 2.1 million followers
Daniel Ricciardo — 1.6 million followers
Max Verstappen — 887.1 thousand followers
Lewis Hamilton — 4.2 million followers
Fernando Alonso — 1.8 million followers
Daniel Ricciardo — 950.5 thousand followers
Max Verstappen — 690.7 thousand followers
Sergio Pérez — 344.4 thousand followers
Lewis Hamilton — 8.5 million followers
Fernando Alonso — 2.3 million followers
Max Verstappen — 1.9 million followers
Kimi Räikkönen — 1.2 million followers
Sergio Pérez — 344.4 thousand followers
Activity
Valterri Bottas — 936 posts
Lewis Hamilton — 911 posts
Max Verstappen — 910 posts
Fernando Alonso — 888 posts
Romain Grosjean — 799 posts
Fernando Alonso — 452 posts
Romain Grosjean — 320 posts
Valtteri Bottas — 291 posts
Lewis Hamilton — 275 posts
Carlos Sainz — 260 posts
Max Verstappen — 597 posts
Valtteri Bottas — 323 posts
Lewis Hamilton — 274 posts
Carlos Sainz — 222 posts
Romain Grosjean — 174 posts
Fernando Alonso — 365 posts
Lewis Hamilton — 362 posts
Valtteri Bottas — 322 posts
Romain Grosjean — 305 posts
Pierre Gasly — 167 posts
Engagement
Lewis Hamilton — 81.2 million engagements
Fernando Alonso — 24.5 million engagements
Max Verstappen — 16.5 million engagements
Kimi Räikkönen — 12.3 million engagements
Daniel Ricciardo — 10.5 million engagements
Lewis Hamilton — 3.5 million engagements
Fernando Alonso — 2.2 million engagements
Max Verstappen — 853.1 thousand engagements
Valtteri Bottas — 687.6 thousand engagements
Daniel Ricciardo — 433.6 thousand engagements
Lewis Hamilton — 4.1 million engagements
Max Verstappen — 965.7 thousand engagements
Daniel Ricciardo — 764 thousand engagements
Valtteri Bottas — 381.6 thousand engagements
Sergio Pérez — 327.3 thousand engagements
Lewis Hamilton — 73.6 million engagements
Fernando Alonso — 22 million engagements
Max Verstappen — 14.7 million engagements
Kimi Räikkönen — 12.3 million engagements
Daniel Ricciardo — 9.3 million engagements
Engagement Rate
*min 18 posts
Kimi Räikkönen — 14.65%
Charles Leclerc — 10%
Lance Stroll — 6.94%
Pierre Gasly — 6.08%
Sergey Sirotkin — 4.44%
Charles Leclerc — 7.69%
Pierre Gasly — 3.69%
Brendon Hartley — 2.17%
Esteban Ocon — 1.95%
Sergey Sirotkin — 1.42%
Lance Stroll — 9.11%
Marcus Ericsson — 3.93%
Pierre Gasly — 3.92%
Kevin Magnussen — 2.50%
Brendon Hartley — 1.24%
Kimi Räikkönen — 14.65%
Charles Leclerc — 11.53%
Pierre Gasly — 3.92%
Brendon Hartley — 7.74%
Daniel Ricciardo — 7.27%
Growth
Lewis Hamilton — 2.6 million followers
Kimi Räikkönen — 703.2 thousand followers
Daniel Ricciardo — 699.3 thousand followers
Max Verstappen — 588.6 thousand followers
Charles Leclerc — 443 thousand followers
Daniel Ricciardo — 135.5 thousand followers
Max Verstappen — 88.2 thousand followers
Lewis Hamilton — 73.7 thousand followers
Charles Leclerc — 72.3 thousand followers
Pierre Gasly — 52 thousand followers
Daniel Ricciardo — 52.2 thousand fans
Lewis Hamilton — 40.9 thousand fans
Charles Leclerc — 29.4 thousand fans
Max Verstappen — 26.3 thousand fans
Pierre Gasly — 18.4 thousand fans
Kimi Räikkönen — 703.2 thousand followers
Lewis Hamilton — 40.9 thousand fans
Daniel Ricciardo — 511.6 thousand followers
Max Verstappen — 474.1 thousand followers
Charles Leclerc — 341.2 thousand followers
Growth Rate
Charles Leclerc — 218.84%
Pierre Gasly — 142.06%
Kimi Räikkönen — 135.98%
Sergey Sirotkin — 121.55%
Brendon Hartley — 62.36%
Charles Leclerc — 191.33%
Pierre Gasly — 113.87%
Brendon Hartley — 48.56%
Sergey Sirotkin — 41.51%
Esteban Ocon — 39.69%
Charles Leclerc — 87.24%
Pierre Gasly — 66.88%
Kevin Magnussen — 9.18%
Brendon Hartley — 7.95%
Daniel Ricciardo — 5.81%
Charles Leclerc — 260.69%
Pierre Gasly — 171.12%
Sergey Sirotkin — 141.22%
Kimi Räikkönen — 135.98%
Brendon Hartley — 110.13%