Formula 1 President & Chief Executive Officer Stefano Domenicali confirmed that the 2021 championship attracted a record number of two billion viewers.
The season that just ended will be remembered as one of the best, with several twists and turns as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen fought for the Drivers’ title, while Scuderia Ferrari was involved in a gripping action in the midfield pack, winning the battle with McLaren for P3 in the Formula 1 Constructor Standings behind Mercedes and Red Bull. Many more key elements could be added to the list of entertaining moments in 2021, and that has resulted in more eyes being on Formula 1 than ever before.
In a recent interview for Motorsport.com, Stefano Domenicali explained: “We are coming from an extraordinary season, followed by more than two billion people! The last Abu Dhabi GP was the most watched sporting event in 2021. These are stratospheric numbers that we should be proud of.” – he said.
A new FIA president is now in charge, as Mohammed Ben Sulayem was elected to replace Jean Todt after the former Ferrari boss completed his maximum term of 12 years in the post. He now has several priorities which have been laid out to him to keep the good times rolling and Todt has also been linked to a possible return to Scuderia Ferrari. At the same time, the new FIA president cannot ignore the title-deciding season finale in Abu Dhabi that ended in a controversial manner. An FIA investigation is currently under way regarding the interpretation of the Sporting Regulations in Abu Dhabi and whether they were followed correctly by race director Michael Masi.
Stefano Domenicali did not want to be pulled back into the talk of said controversy, but did hint that under Ben Sulayem there could be a shift in the balance within the FIA which impacts Formula 1 going forward.
Leave a Reply