Kimi Raikkonen
IN PHOTO: Ferrari Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland walks to the pit during the first practice session of the Austrian F1 Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg, Austria, June 19, 2015. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren-Honda’s Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button are the most popular drivers in Formula One (F1), according to a global fan survey. The survey was conducted by one of the world’s leading and trusted sports and entertainment market intelligence, Repucom.

Motorsport and Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GDPA) released the results of the global fan survey on Wednesday. A total of 217,756 F1 fans from different parts of the globe took part in the online survey, which was launched from May 22 to June 8, 2015. The most number of participants came from the UK followed by France and the U.S. The poll was initiated in an effort to gather the fans’ insights about the F1 sport in general.

The favourite F1 driver was one of the subjects in the global fan survey and the Finnish racing driver Raikkonen, who races for Ferrari, emerged on top. Trailing behind Raikkonen were teammates Alonso and Button at the second and third places, respectively. The survey results also revealed the fans’ favourite F1 teams, which are Ferrari, McLaren, and Williams.

On the topic of the fans’ top three drivers of all-time, Brazilian racind driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championships three times topped the survey. Seven-time German F1 world champion Michael Schumacher is second and four-time French F1 world champion Alain Prost came in third.

GDPA Chairman Alex Wurz was overwhelmed with the response that they received from the fans all over the world. More than anything, the fans has aired out their belief on what is the most important thing to be considered in improving the sport. Wurz said that they will definitely consider the outcome of the survey in making F1 a better sport. He thanked the fans for taking time to answer the survey and share their insights.

“It is now time for us to look in close detail at the findings of the survey,” Wurz said in a statement. “From there, we will work with F1's key stakeholders to make sure they listen and consider your input carefully.”

Visit Gpda.motorsport.com for the complete survey results.

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