Formula 1 Is 'Nowhere' Compared To Other Sports In Social Media Sphere, Symonds Says

Formula 1 is still "nowhere" compared to rival sports in the world of social media "despite reporting a huge boost in interaction," former Williams F1 Chief Technical Officer Pat Symonds said, according to Newbold & Barretto of MOTORSPORT. Last week, F1 reported it had 11.9 million followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, which represents a rise of 54.9% from '16. Symonds, who last year joined the team of specialists working under F1 Managing Dir Ross Brawn that is tasked with "helping define F1's future direction," said that there was "so much more that could be done." Symonds: "When you read it, it looks like good news but in reality, we are nowhere. We're so far behind. If you just look at Facebook, Mercedes are there at over 10 million against 95.5 million for Barcelona" (MOTORSPORT, 1/15).