An Interesting Statistic

[LionZoo]

In 2010, the F1 television audience in Britain numbered 33 million. The audience in China numbered 76 million; more than twice the amount of the country that likes to claim it is the heartbeat of F1 racing. Lots of people, especially those in the English speaking media (which means mostly Britain since Formula One might as well be a hair product to the majority of US media), like to claim that F1 should stop expanding to Asia and should instead contract back to Europe, but I really wonder if the motivation for that is less rational and more selfish. While the television audience can be less sophiscated as a whole in Asia, we should certainly give them a chance to develop the requisite racing knowledge rather than deem them unworthy.

(Statistic source: The Economist, May 14th 2011 edition, page 80)

[eagleash]

The proportion/percentage of the population would also be an interesting statistic...although it is of course actual numbers that Bernie would be more concerned with.
I understand from a friend in HK that interest in the sport is still growing in China...& a quote from another friend in Austin, Texas...."I didn't know they had Motor Racing in China"
Are there audience figures available for any other Asian countries?

[Vepe]

the percentage:
in Britain: ~53% watched
in China: ~5% watched

[TimmyB]

Great statistic, but it's worth remembering why audience numbers are important.

An audience is only as valuable as the money they're likely to part with towards sponsors products. So, do you think 33 million Brits spend more money on F1 sponsored products than 76 million Chinese? In 2011, I'd say yes. In 10 or 20 years time, who knows.

Also, you can understand journalists feeling luke-warm towards asian races because of the flights, accommodation and, most importantly, the number of empty seats in the grandstands. I support F1's expansion into new territory, but I can see both points of view.

[eagleash]

Yes; that's exactly why Bernie is looking to emerging markets.....from an economist's point of view (it's OK, Carlos probably won't read this) ......the traditional markets may be approaching saturation point.

[Jordan192]

In 2010, the F1 television audience in Britain numbered 33 million.

That's got to be a season-long total, even stuff like the '66 world cup final and Diana's funeral just barely passed 32 million.

So the 'per-race' audience is of the order of 1-2 million. and unless no-one watches more than one race and it's 2 million different people each time, the year-long total unique audience could be anywhere in between. (though i'd guess it's below 10m).

[eagleash]

In 2010, the F1 television audience in Britain numbered 33 million.

That's got to be a season-long total,

Undoubtedly..

[ibsey]

Very interesting statistic indeed. All the more interesting, when you consider that China doesn't have a F1 driver team to support yet?

Just out of interest LionZoo, why was The Economist highlighting that statistic? Or in other words why were they trying to prove with it? I'm guessing they were trying to prove that F1 is going in the right direction with its TV audiences. Thus making good business sense. If that is the case then fair point, provided it is not determental to other sides of F1 (namely the sporting side).

All in all I am more than happy to see new countries on the F1 calander, provide they can benefit F1 in terms of a great circuit & atmosphere in the grandstand (unlike Turkey). IMO Malaysia is a great case study for any country new to F1, as they have a great track & passionate locals. Furthermore I agree that F1 should give places like China & India a chance to build up a F1 / motorracing passion.

[GroupLotusRenault]

In 2010, the F1 television audience in Britain numbered 33 million. The audience in China numbered 76 million; more than twice the amount of the country that likes to claim it is the heartbeat of F1 racing. Lots of people, especially those in the English speaking media (which means mostly Britain since Formula One might as well be a hair product to the majority of US media), like to claim that F1 should stop expanding to Asia and should instead contract back to Europe, but I really wonder if the motivation for that is less rational and more selfish. While the television audience can be less sophiscated as a whole in Asia, we should certainly give them a chance to develop the requisite racing knowledge rather than deem them unworthy.

(Statistic source: The Economist, May 14th 2011 edition, page 80)

33 Million in Britian with a population of 60 Million, while china had 77 milion with a population of over a Billion. Your right UK is the heartbeat of F1 and it should have more people watching but if we do the maths in the UK thats 55% of the population watching the sport, while in China thats just 7.6% of the population. Dont get me wrong many chinese are getting more into the sport, but as a brit who just adores F1 and is studying Motorsport Engineering, I dont think China will get into the sport like the Brits or Europe.

[Mister Fungus]

I think that's more like exposure to the sport. 33 million brits were exposed to F1 during news, different shows, races itself etc. I think actual live figures are around 5-6 million people in the UK.

[LionZoo]

The Economist article was actually about the takeover situation of F1. However, they had a graph about viewership that I thought was interesting. Also, British viewership has increased by about 38% from 2006 to 2010, doubtless due to Button's newfound competitiveness and Lewisteria, while China's viewership has decreased by about the same. However, as I acknowledged elsewhere, the Chinese commentary team on CCTV has become much more knowledgeable about F1 from a year ago. So much so that I didn't have the urge to put the TV on mute, a desire that I sometimes have with the SpeedTV crew.

Also, as much as we like to talk about percentage of population, it's probably the total number of interest that is relevant to the race promoters. Vanatu's population of 20 might all be rabid F1 fans, but that doesn't make Vanatu a good venue for the race. (Ducks.)

[Malinth]

IMO Malaysia is a great case study for any country new to F1, as they have a great track & passionate locals.

Well it's an okay track layout, and I've been there quite a few times, for the inaugural F1 race, and two A1 races, along with a MotoGP race in 2007, and the infrastructure is quite good. But I gotta say, you're really overdoing the 'passionate locals' part. F1 gets a lot of exposure in advertising thanks to Petronas, but there isn't really much love for the sport, at least in the younger generation, because every single kid I've met only talks about football and badminton (too much EPL exposure here, and our badminton squad is quite good) when it comes to sports. The kids that do know about the sport can only talk about how Michael Schumacher is the greatest driver ever, allegedly. I find it difficult to keep a straight face when they try to prove to me that that 'Brazilian fellow is lamer'. Proton are being bloody idiots now, raving over the Lotus name, and promoting their cars that have 'Lotus feel' and 'Lotus handling' and crap like that.

Malinth

[tommykl]

IMO Malaysia is a great case study for any country new to F1, as they have a great track & passionate locals.

Well it's an okay track layout, and I've been there quite a few times, for the inaugural F1 race, and two A1 races, along with a MotoGP race in 2007, and the infrastructure is quite good. But I gotta say, you're really overdoing the 'passionate locals' part. F1 gets a lot of exposure in advertising thanks to Petronas, but there isn't really much love for the sport, at least in the younger generation, because every single kid I've met only talks about football and badminton (too much EPL exposure here, and our badminton squad is quite good) when it comes to sports. The kids that do know about the sport can only talk about how Michael Schumacher is the greatest driver ever, allegedly. I find it difficult to keep a straight face when they try to prove to me that that 'Brazilian fellow is lamer'. Proton are being bloody idiots now, raving over the Lotus name, and promoting their cars that have 'Lotus feel' and 'Lotus handling' and crap like that.

Malinth

I've been to Sepang for the 2006 Grand Prix, the 2007 A1 round and the 2008 Super GT race, and I can say the experience was thrilling (I was 9 - 10 - 11 then, so it was amazing to me). You're right, though, when you say the younger generation is a bit limited. When kids who call themselves "hardcore F1 fans" can only support Schumacher even though he wasn't racing, Ferrari and McLaren and say "Heidfeld? He sucks! Do you have Steven Gerrard in Match Attax?" you know there's a problem. All I had was the TV (the commentators were good, I thought), F1 Racing mag, complete with Lewisteria, and F1 Rejects from early 2008 onwards. So yeah, the motorsports culture is pretty much limited to everything in which Malaysia is involved.

[Malinth]

I've been to Sepang for the 2006 Grand Prix, the 2007 A1 round and the 2008 Super GT race, and I can say the experience was thrilling (I was 9 - 10 - 11 then, so it was amazing to me). You're right, though, when you say the younger generation is a bit limited. When kids who call themselves "hardcore F1 fans" can only support Schumacher even though he wasn't racing, Ferrari and McLaren and say "Heidfeld? He sucks! Do you have Steven Gerrard in Match Attax?" you know there's a problem. All I had was the TV (the commentators were good, I thought), F1 Racing mag, complete with Lewisteria, and F1 Rejects from early 2008 onwards. So yeah, the motorsports culture is pretty much limited to everything in which Malaysia is involved.

The commentators here are definitely fantastic. Steve Slater is definitely the closest South East Asia is going to get to Murray Walker, and Gary Anderson is a superb partner, although sometimes, his criticism of slight errors and how the teams are getting setups all wrong can get on my nerves. Alex Yoong is also not bad. I think it was Julian Bailey who was in the studio for the Malaysian GP, and he was criticizing Heidfeld as not being a racer, and that his place should be taken by the Hulk. Big words from someone who wasn't that fantastic in his tenure with Lotus!

Malinth

[GroupLotusRenault]

Im a big fan of the engineers of F1 not just Ross Brawn or Adrian Newey but Colin Chapman, Gary Anderson, Neil Oackay, Patrick Head, Gordon Murry etc and these are my heros as a motorsport engineer student. Some drivers I liked like Stirling Moss Jim Clark Fangio Aytron Senna and the driver I like today is Paul Di-resta. Shows you how different I am from others

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

Im a big fan of the engineers of F1 not just Ross Brawn or Adrian Newey but Colin Chapman, Gary Anderson, Neil Oackay, Patrick Head, Gordon Murry etc and these are my heros as a motorsport engineer student. Some drivers I liked like Stirling Moss Jim Clark Fangio Aytron Senna and the driver I like today is Paul Di-resta. Shows you how different I am from others

I am different from all my friends as I'm not a Vettel/Schumacher fan. Bellof and Rosemeyer = Legends.

[GroupLotusRenault]

Im a big fan of the engineers of F1 not just Ross Brawn or Adrian Newey but Colin Chapman, Gary Anderson, Neil Oackay, Patrick Head, Gordon Murry etc and these are my heros as a motorsport engineer student. Some drivers I liked like Stirling Moss Jim Clark Fangio Aytron Senna and the driver I like today is Paul Di-resta. Shows you how different I am from others

I am different from all my friends as I'm not a Vettel/Schumacher fan. Bellof and Rosemeyer = Legends.

I respect Vettel and Schumacher, but I dont think they are the best. Haha I met Perry McCarthy in 2002 I think and Mike Gascoyne and thats more my type of heros.

[tommykl]

Im a big fan of the engineers of F1 not just Ross Brawn or Adrian Newey but Colin Chapman, Gary Anderson, Neil Oackay, Patrick Head, Gordon Murry etc and these are my heros as a motorsport engineer student. Some drivers I liked like Stirling Moss Jim Clark Fangio Aytron Senna and the driver I like today is Paul Di-resta. Shows you how different I am from others

I am different from all my friends as I'm not a Vettel/Schumacher fan. Bellof and Rosemeyer = Legends.

And I, just for teh lulz, meet you with Mass and Caracciola.

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

Im a big fan of the engineers of F1 not just Ross Brawn or Adrian Newey but Colin Chapman, Gary Anderson, Neil Oackay, Patrick Head, Gordon Murry etc and these are my heros as a motorsport engineer student. Some drivers I liked like Stirling Moss Jim Clark Fangio Aytron Senna and the driver I like today is Paul Di-resta. Shows you how different I am from others

I am different from all my friends as I'm not a Vettel/Schumacher fan. Bellof and Rosemeyer = Legends.

And I, just for teh lulz, meet you with Mass and Caracciola.

Thank you.

[Malinth]

Im a big fan of the engineers of F1 not just Ross Brawn or Adrian Newey but Colin Chapman, Gary Anderson, Neil Oackay, Patrick Head, Gordon Murry etc and these are my heros as a motorsport engineer student. Some drivers I liked like Stirling Moss Jim Clark Fangio Aytron Senna and the driver I like today is Paul Di-resta. Shows you how different I am from others

I am different from all my friends as I'm not a Vettel/Schumacher fan. Bellof and Rosemeyer = Legends.

Ah, Bernd Rosemeyer. Absolute talent. If he was born 2 or 3 decades later, so that he would be 30 or 20 in the F1 years, he would have firmly steamrolled his opponents nicely.

[patrick]

out of (further) interest, does anyone know the viewing figures of "key" F1 countries such as Italy and France?
Italy lacks a driver, although it has Ferrari and I expect they are fond of Fernando. France is often tied with Britain as the home of motorsport but their presence in F1 is practically nonexistant (unless you're an Eric Boullier fan)

[mario]

Im a big fan of the engineers of F1 not just Ross Brawn or Adrian Newey but Colin Chapman, Gary Anderson, Neil Oackay, Patrick Head, Gordon Murry etc and these are my heros as a motorsport engineer student. Some drivers I liked like Stirling Moss Jim Clark Fangio Aytron Senna and the driver I like today is Paul Di-resta. Shows you how different I am from others

I am different from all my friends as I'm not a Vettel/Schumacher fan. Bellof and Rosemeyer = Legends.

Ah, Bernd Rosemeyer. Absolute talent. If he was born 2 or 3 decades later, so that he would be 30 or 20 in the F1 years, he would have firmly steamrolled his opponents nicely.

What about the great Tazio Nuvolari? Surely you can't forget the man that Ferdinand Porsche described as the greatest racing driver of all time.

[dr-baker]

out of (further) interest, does anyone know the viewing figures of "key" F1 countries such as Italy and France?
Italy lacks a driver, although it has Ferrari and I expect they are fond of Fernando. France is often tied with Britain as the home of motorsport but their presence in F1 is practically nonexistant (unless you're an Eric Boullier fan)

Jarno Trulli would like to introduce you to the joys of flying papayas...

[patrick]

out of (further) interest, does anyone know the viewing figures of "key" F1 countries such as Italy and France?
Italy lacks a driver, although it has Ferrari and I expect they are fond of Fernando. France is often tied with Britain as the home of motorsport but their presence in F1 is practically nonexistant (unless you're an Eric Boullier fan)

Jarno Trulli would like to introduce you to the joys of flying papayas...

Ah yes, I'm sorry Jarno, but the fact I forgot you speaks for itself

[Alianora La Canta]

out of (further) interest, does anyone know the viewing figures of "key" F1 countries such as Italy and France?
Italy lacks a driver, although it has Ferrari and I expect they are fond of Fernando. France is often tied with Britain as the home of motorsport but their presence in F1 is practically nonexistant (unless you're an Eric Boullier fan)

Jarno Trulli would like to introduce you to the joys of flying papayas...

As of his reinstatement onto the Monaco grid a few hours ago, so would Tonio Liuzzi.

[Malinth]

What about the great Tazio Nuvolari? Surely you can't forget the man that Ferdinand Porsche described as the greatest racing driver of all time.

But of course! Lest we forget him! I was merely responding to Jeroen's comment regarding Bernd.

[ibsey]

Wasn't it Tazio Nuvolari who once raced a motor bike with broken legs in a plaster cast? Whoever it was, apparently the mechanics had to lift that driver on & off the bike each time he stopped. Now that is what I call a real racer!!!

But I gotta say, you're really overdoing the 'passionate locals' part. F1 gets a lot of exposure in advertising thanks to Petronas, but there isn't really much love for the sport, at least in the younger generation, because every single kid I've met only talks about football and badminton (too much EPL exposure here, and our badminton squad is quite good) when it comes to sports.

Thanks for that great insight Malinth (& welcome to the forum BTW). As they say you learn something new everyday. You probably gathered that I have only ever watched the Malaysian GP's from TV (since i'm in the UK & not as lucky as you are in attending Sepang). Therefore the impression I always got from watching Malaysian GP's on TV appeared to show great enthasium from the Malaysian public. For instance I recall in 2010 when Rosberg got a podium & a large section of the crowd cheered since he was Petronas sponsored. Also the grandstands always seemed to me to be reasonably filled, hence the reason I orginally felt locals appeared passionate about F1. However, since you've attended the race, I'm happy to accept that appearances might be decieving.

Thinking about it now, perhaps Petronas portrays a greater Malaysian interest in F1 to the outside world, via TV, then as you suggest there is in reality. Simply to benefit their own business interest. Nevertheless, it is at least hearting that Petronas' do advertising & exposure of the GP (i.e. like their demo runs by the Petronas Towers etc) which appears geared towards building a greater awareness of F1 within Malaysia. This can only help in creating a 'love for F1' amongst Malaysia locals IMO (something I don't think Turkey or China appear to do to the same extend as Malaysia).

However it would be interesting to get your thoughts on whether you think a successful Malaysian GP driver / team (or from any new country to host a GP) will get the country (or at least in the younger generation) interested in F1? (simliar to Spain & their Alonso fever post 2003).

I ask this as firstly you seem to be familar with Malaysia. But also I recall in 2002, the Malaysian public made a big deal out of Alex Young being their 1st GP driver, & placed very unreasonable exepctations upon him (particularly as Mark Webber had just finished 5th in a Minardi in his home GP). So to me (admittedly as someone observing from outside of Malaysia) it seems the Malaysian public would become interested / passionate about F1 if they had someone to support. Since their are a couple of young Malaysian drivers in the junoir formulaes (Fairuz Fauzy - Lotus test driver & GP2 Driver & Jazeman Jaafar - F3 Driver) & Lotus is currently owned by a Malaysian company this may happen in the not to distant future. I mean you only have to look at what appears to be a growing interest in F1 recently from countries like Mexico & India since they have both recently got greater representation within the sport (i.e. Perez - Mexico & Chandok / Narain + GP - India). So perhaps, Malaysia could still become passionate about F1 should they get a decent driver.

[Malinth]

However it would be interesting to get your thoughts on whether you think a successful Malaysian GP driver / team (or from any new country to host a GP) will get the country (or at least in the younger generation) interested in F1? (simliar to Spain & their Alonso fever post 2003).

I ask this as firstly you seem to be familar with Malaysia. But also I recall in 2002, the Malaysian public made a big deal out of Alex Young being their 1st GP driver, & placed very unreasonable exepctations upon him (particularly as Mark Webber had just finished 5th in a Minardi in his home GP). So to me (admittedly as someone observing from outside of Malaysia) it seems the Malaysian public would become interested / passionate about F1 if they had someone to support. Since their are a couple of young Malaysian drivers in the junoir formulaes (Fairuz Fauzy - Lotus test driver & GP2 Driver & Jazeman Jaafar - F3 Driver) & Lotus is currently owned by a Malaysian company this may happen in the not to distant future. I mean you only have to look at what appears to be a growing interest in F1 recently from countries like Mexico & India since they have both recently got greater representation within the sport (i.e. Perez - Mexico & Chandok / Narain + GP - India). So perhaps, Malaysia could still become passionate about F1 should they get a decent driver.

Thanks

Well, obviously a successful driver for any nation is good for interest building in said country. I remember 2001/2002, and the papers were making a big deal about it. I think I was the only person in the whole nation who had followed F1 before, having lived in Wales and England in the 80s, and therefore I had been exposed to pretty much all the drivers and teams, along with Murray Walker and James Hunt (something I'm proud of to this day!) and I was very aware that Minardi was a backmarker team. Despite Petronas' involvement prior to 1999, and the three races which had been held prior to 2002, I think much of the Malaysian public was only aware of one thing. Ferrari = Win. The midfield to the backmarkers were totally ignored, and unfortunately, this attitude is still carried out today (I was talking about F1 with a friend, and shortly after ending a discussion regarding Hamilton, I asked on his opinion of HRT. He began a long lecture on Hormone Replacement Therapy!!) So when Mr. Yoong got the Minardi seat, hopes were high. The fact that Webber got 5th in Albert Park, and that Yoong got 7th (both due to attrition, lest we forget) meant that Malaysians saw Minardi as a point scoring team at least. The fact is that we didn't get coverage all the time and when we did, the commentary was bad, REALLY BAD, and the newspapers NEVER gave a page, or even a column dedicated to F1 (occasionally, a small line or two), so everyone thought it was based on merit. To be honest, not much was said about his 2001 adventures, many thought 2002 was his first season. If we had a driver to cheer, then interest would definitely get a boost. Malaysians are for better or for worse (most of the time the latter) extremely patriotic. But still, I think that most will only be passionate for the driver, and nothing else really.

Malinth

[FullMetalJack]

Ferrari have won the Monaco Grand Prix 3 times in the last 30 years, whilst in less than 30 years, McLaren have won it 15 times.

[GroupLotusRenault]

However it would be interesting to get your thoughts on whether you think a successful Malaysian GP driver / team (or from any new country to host a GP) will get the country (or at least in the younger generation) interested in F1? (simliar to Spain & their Alonso fever post 2003).

I ask this as firstly you seem to be familar with Malaysia. But also I recall in 2002, the Malaysian public made a big deal out of Alex Young being their 1st GP driver, & placed very unreasonable exepctations upon him (particularly as Mark Webber had just finished 5th in a Minardi in his home GP). So to me (admittedly as someone observing from outside of Malaysia) it seems the Malaysian public would become interested / passionate about F1 if they had someone to support. Since their are a couple of young Malaysian drivers in the junoir formulaes (Fairuz Fauzy - Lotus test driver & GP2 Driver & Jazeman Jaafar - F3 Driver) & Lotus is currently owned by a Malaysian company this may happen in the not to distant future. I mean you only have to look at what appears to be a growing interest in F1 recently from countries like Mexico & India since they have both recently got greater representation within the sport (i.e. Perez - Mexico & Chandok / Narain + GP - India). So perhaps, Malaysia could still become passionate about F1 should they get a decent driver.

Thanks

Well, obviously a successful driver for any nation is good for interest building in said country. I remember 2001/2002, and the papers were making a big deal about it. I think I was the only person in the whole nation who had followed F1 before, having lived in Wales and England in the 80s, and therefore I had been exposed to pretty much all the drivers and teams, along with Murray Walker and James Hunt (something I'm proud of to this day!) and I was very aware that Minardi was a backmarker team. Despite Petronas' involvement prior to 1999, and the three races which had been held prior to 2002, I think much of the Malaysian public was only aware of one thing. Ferrari = Win. The midfield to the backmarkers were totally ignored, and unfortunately, this attitude is still carried out today (I was talking about F1 with a friend, and shortly after ending a discussion regarding Hamilton, I asked on his opinion of HRT. He began a long lecture on Hormone Replacement Therapy!!) So when Mr. Yoong got the Minardi seat, hopes were high. The fact that Webber got 5th in Albert Park, and that Yoong got 7th (both due to attrition, lest we forget) meant that Malaysians saw Minardi as a point scoring team at least. The fact is that we didn't get coverage all the time and when we did, the commentary was bad, REALLY BAD, and the newspapers NEVER gave a page, or even a column dedicated to F1 (occasionally, a small line or two), so everyone thought it was based on merit. To be honest, not much was said about his 2001 adventures, many thought 2002 was his first season. If we had a driver to cheer, then interest would definitely get a boost. Malaysians are for better or for worse (most of the time the latter) extremely patriotic. But still, I think that most will only be passionate for the driver, and nothing else really.

Malinth

Malaysia has been involed in F1 for some time now (Sauber was sponsored by Petronas from 1995-2009 and from 1997-2006 used Ferrari rebadged Petronas) Lotus is now Malaysian. Alex Young. Minardi in 2001-2202 sponsored by Go KL. Stewart GP in 2007 was sponsored by Visit Malaysia. Its great to see another country outside of the UK and Europe to get involed in F1. Britian will always be the biggest in motorsport, but others will get bigger.

[Malinth]

However it would be interesting to get your thoughts on whether you think a successful Malaysian GP driver / team (or from any new country to host a GP) will get the country (or at least in the younger generation) interested in F1? (simliar to Spain & their Alonso fever post 2003).

I ask this as firstly you seem to be familar with Malaysia. But also I recall in 2002, the Malaysian public made a big deal out of Alex Young being their 1st GP driver, & placed very unreasonable exepctations upon him (particularly as Mark Webber had just finished 5th in a Minardi in his home GP). So to me (admittedly as someone observing from outside of Malaysia) it seems the Malaysian public would become interested / passionate about F1 if they had someone to support. Since their are a couple of young Malaysian drivers in the junoir formulaes (Fairuz Fauzy - Lotus test driver & GP2 Driver & Jazeman Jaafar - F3 Driver) & Lotus is currently owned by a Malaysian company this may happen in the not to distant future. I mean you only have to look at what appears to be a growing interest in F1 recently from countries like Mexico & India since they have both recently got greater representation within the sport (i.e. Perez - Mexico & Chandok / Narain + GP - India). So perhaps, Malaysia could still become passionate about F1 should they get a decent driver.

Thanks

Well, obviously a successful driver for any nation is good for interest building in said country. I remember 2001/2002, and the papers were making a big deal about it. I think I was the only person in the whole nation who had followed F1 before, having lived in Wales and England in the 80s, and therefore I had been exposed to pretty much all the drivers and teams, along with Murray Walker and James Hunt (something I'm proud of to this day!) and I was very aware that Minardi was a backmarker team. Despite Petronas' involvement prior to 1999, and the three races which had been held prior to 2002, I think much of the Malaysian public was only aware of one thing. Ferrari = Win. The midfield to the backmarkers were totally ignored, and unfortunately, this attitude is still carried out today (I was talking about F1 with a friend, and shortly after ending a discussion regarding Hamilton, I asked on his opinion of HRT. He began a long lecture on Hormone Replacement Therapy!!) So when Mr. Yoong got the Minardi seat, hopes were high. The fact that Webber got 5th in Albert Park, and that Yoong got 7th (both due to attrition, lest we forget) meant that Malaysians saw Minardi as a point scoring team at least. The fact is that we didn't get coverage all the time and when we did, the commentary was bad, REALLY BAD, and the newspapers NEVER gave a page, or even a column dedicated to F1 (occasionally, a small line or two), so everyone thought it was based on merit. To be honest, not much was said about his 2001 adventures, many thought 2002 was his first season. If we had a driver to cheer, then interest would definitely get a boost. Malaysians are for better or for worse (most of the time the latter) extremely patriotic. But still, I think that most will only be passionate for the driver, and nothing else really.

Malinth

Malaysia has been involed in F1 for some time now (Sauber was sponsored by Petronas from 1995-2009 and from 1997-2006 used Ferrari rebadged Petronas) Lotus is now Malaysian. Alex Young. Minardi in 2001-2202 sponsored by Go KL. Stewart GP in 2007 was sponsored by Visit Malaysia. Its great to see another country outside of the UK and Europe to get involed in F1. Britian will always be the biggest in motorsport, but others will get bigger.

Something you might like to know is that the general public was quite opposed to Petronas splashing out cash for Sauber. They argued that the money could be used for more 'important' purposes, such as advancing the country. It only got worse when the Asian Recession hit, and I think the general view of things started turning for the better in 1999, with the race.

[David AGS]

Its slightly different in Australia.

Here we got a sports mad country, with pretty much a strong side in each sport (tennis, basketball, world football/soccer, cricket, hockey etc), and a decent Formula 1 driver (Webber), and World Champions in the past (Brabham, Jones).

But major corporate companies in Australia in my opinion dont really care about Formula 1. Australia have produced many talented drivers, but have often ran out of money in 1-2 years in Europe so they return home, or go to the States. Before Webber was around, apart from the Australian race, there was little coverage at all, races were delayed till ridiculous hours, and qualifying was not shown.

Webber himsef was just about short on cash until Mr.Stoddart bought him a test with Arrows and the rest is history. Stoddart and his Aussie sidekick, the former Politician and current Grand Prix chairman Ron Walker were trying to drum up financial backing for Minardi to no avail. (Telstra did back Webber, in a very small sponsorship deal).

I think Aussie sponsors would get more coverage from their local sporting codes domestically (AFL, Rugby, Cricket etc) and also the European time difference doesnt help at all.