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• Formula 1 is the top tier of competitive motor racing in the world.
• The sport has seen its global audience grow significantly since Liberty Media took control of it 2017.
• However it has received criticism for being boring and less of a competition, with one driver and team dominating
Formula 1 has its back against the wall. This weekend after winning the Belgian Grand Prix, the sport's six-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton told F1 journalist Maurice Hamilton: "At the end of the day, we're just all managing - which is not racing."
The Mercedes driver's comment was linked to criticism of the sport's tyre-supplier, Pirelli and the fast degredation of the the tyres. More than that, it echoed what fans are saying on social media about how the racing is boring to watch. Hamilton has won the last three drivers' titles and Mercedes the last six constructors' titles. The duo have simply been unstoppable in the hybrid era of the sport.
And it matters to the sport's global audience of 1.9-billion. In 2019, F1 reported audience figures grow in both TV and digitally. Fans can even watch races on the app and have access to exclusive content.
On social media the sport has a huge following, boasting 10.4-million followers on Instagram, 4.7-million on Twitter, and 9.5-million fans on Facebook.
Don't forget the incredibly insightful documentary, Drive to Survive, on Netflix and how these drivers have become household names. Some of the more popular drivers can be associated with their team racing overalls and identified easily. Think of Michael Schumacher in the scarlet Scuderia Ferrari racing suit, or more recently, the black overalls of Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
But could you name a driver is his helmet was blurred out and all that is visible is the visor section? The team at Select Car Leasing enjoy putting sports fans knowledge to the test and this quiz is no different.
They have blurred out the helmets and surroundings of 10 well-known past and present F1 drivers, to see who you can recognise. After all this practice of learning to recognise people when wearing face masks, they wondered if we would be any better at recognising F1 drivers.
See the original Quiz here.
Can you recognise them from just their eyes and nose alone?
Can you believe that back then the cars were fitted with manual gearboxes? It's insane to think how skillful the drivers of yesteryear were, managing incredibly powerful machines around race tracks and street circuits like Monaco.
Let's hope we can get to a point where the racing is as close as it was all those years ago, that's why we love F1.
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