As Mike Lawrence so rightly says in his latest feature, there is only one unit of measurement which matters when judging the success and popularity of a movie, show or sporting event, and that is "the bum upon a seat".

Well, despite the almost 50% drop in overtaking and the continued domination by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, according to Formula One Management, the 2017 F1 season was a success, with an 8% increase on 2016 in terms of fan attendance at races.

According to FOM, in excess of four million fans attended this year's races, with events like Azerbaijan recording a 58% increase on the previous year.

In total, according to FOM, 13 of the 20 races saw a "swell in crowd numbers", with the Canadian and Austrian events both witnessing increases of 60,000 on 2016 "across the weekend".

"The global average attendance per event was 203,570," said FOM in a statement, "while for race day, the estimated average attendance was 76,722, which is more than the average attendances reported for the UEFA Champions League, the Premier League and the Bundesliga in 2016/17, the NFL in 2016 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup."

"The 2017 season was a great spectacle, on and off track, thanks to drivers, teams and, most of all, fans, the beating heart of our sport," said Sean Bratches, the sport's commercial boss.

"An attendance of more than 200,000 per event means that for 20 weekends per year, the population of a medium-sized city visits a race track to watch to a Formula 1 Grand Prix. Our duty is to make each of these events even more entertaining to unleash what is the greatest racing spectacle on the planet."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Your Mom's Best Friend, 11/12/2017 5:15

"Very little to add to the fine comments already here !

Can we say it together:

FOM is FoS !!

Math has never been my strong suit but for anyone who's looked at F1 for any considerable amount of time this really defies all logic and common sense, goes against every perceivable negative trend. Except for one: In terms of numbers, the only ones that could have possibly gone up for FOM are the extortionate fees that they charge the circuits. Whether tickets are sold or not, everyone knows about their escalator contracts.

I suppose that it's possible (possible mind you, not probable) that certain races, here and there, had a higher attendance than the year prior. But overall ?

No.

Like the gentleman below pithily stated "figures lie and liars figure." And never before in history has it been as easy to lie to the public and get away with it as it is right now.

Even ten years ago we would see empty grandstands on tv, and it's only been getting worse and worse. And even back then I thought to myself: how long until they start digitally painting in crowds where there aren't any real ones ?"

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2. Posted by george, 11/12/2017 3:04

"Ridiculous. First of all, those coming on Fridays and Saturdays are the same coming on race days. Second, there has been some very creative head counting here. for a real journalist not so difficult to check, first of all, check if the counting methods were the same this season to the last. Ask the circuits for the ticket SALES numbers on the Sunday. Of course, it is possible that I am wrong, but Bahrain, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, Australia, certainly did not have more spectators. F1 has and remains in denial. The awakening will be harsh. "

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3. Posted by ESTM PRFT, 11/12/2017 2:21

"Figures lie & liars figure. Boredom (in most of the) must attract more fans now to cure their insomnia.... "

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4. Posted by Ro, 10/12/2017 11:58

"Then I must have been watching so other races because what I saw in almost all the circuits was empty grandstands. Bit of "figure fudging" or also known as "creative accountancy""

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Race attendance up 8% says FOM

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