F1 is 'nowhere' with social media

Formula One is still 'nowhere' in their attempts to evolve their social media presence compared to the status of other major sports, according to former Williams chief technical officer and current Liberty Media advisor, Pat Symonds, who is working under F1 sporting boss Ross Brawn.

Last week, F1 reported a 54.9% increase in their social media followers over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, with the figures currently at around 11.9 million.

The new owners of F1, Liberty Media, have lambasted the lack of digital presence which the previous ownership oversaw and have took it upon themselves to improve this aspect of their marketing as one of their main targets.

Previously, teams were limited to the amount of social media output they were allowed to post online, but these rules have softened now and video output has increased significantly.

However, Symonds has confessed that these improved numbers are still a long way from being acceptable.

"When you read it, it looks like good news but in reality, we are nowhere," he claimed when speaking at the MIA's Entertainment and Energy-Efficient Motorsport Conference.

"We're so far behind. If you just look at Facebook, Mercedes are there at over 10m against 95.5m for Barcelona Football Club.

"We're nowhere in F1. It's the same with the drivers. Lewis [Hamilton] has four million followers on Facebook while [Real Madrid footballer Cristiano] Ronaldo has 11.8 million.

"We have so far to go in these areas. At least we're aware of it now. Prior to Liberty taking over, I don't think this crossed Bernie's mind at all."

F1 is currently in the shadow of other major sports in terms of social media followers. For example, the Premier League alone has 41 million followers on Facebook, the National Football League in the United States has 16 million, and the National Basketball Association has 34 million.