Lewis Hamilton is the most popular driver in Formula 1

With just one season under his belt, Lewis Hamilton is already the most popular driver in Formula 1: this is what emerges from a survey conducted on 8500 European fans by ING, main sponsor of the Renault F1 team. The twenty-two year old British McLaren driver was more representative than the new world champion Kimi Raikkonen, as well as his 2007 teammate Fernando Alonso. Despite the two-time world champion's huge popularity in his native Spain, the 2005 and 2006 champion garnered just under ten percent of the votes, compared to around a third of the preferences given to Hamilton. The ING survey also revealed that Ayrton Senna is the most important driver of all time, ahead of the more successful Michael Schumacher.

In addition to this significant recognition from the ING survey, Hamilton also recently received the "Autocar Motorsport" award, which was awarded to him by the well-known British automotive weekly. “I am a regular reader of Autocar” – declared Hamilton – “and I am very proud to have received this recognition”.

(d.07)