AFP: A defiant Lewis Hamilton issued a rallying call to his team on Sunday after finishing seventh in the Monaco Grand Prix. The result saw him slip 25 points adrift of triumphant German Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari in the title race, but the Briton found positives to focus on in his recovery after starting from 13th on the grid.

“I feel pretty good,” said the three-time champion Mercedes driver. “I feel very positive. I am very happy.

“I came into the race a lot further back than I expected to be and I had no idea what was going to happen.

“The beginning of the race was boring for me, but when I got some clear air, it was fun. “The team said in our strategy meeting this morning that I could only get 10th place – so I am happy to be seventh.

“The gap to Sebastian is big, but not impossible to close.”

He added: “This has been the most difficult weekend I have had for a while.

“That is why I just had to let my guys know we are not going to give up.

“To be 25 points down is a long way, but I am going to work as hard as I can to make sure a weekend like this is not repeated.”

Hamilton most popular driver in F1 fan survey; Ferrari ranked as the top team

Reuters: Formula One is feeling a fresh wave of optimism under its new owners, while Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are the two most popular drivers, according to an extensive fan survey released on Friday.

The Motorsport Network’s Global Fan Survey, carried out in 15 languages and with feedback from 194 countries, found fans liked the sport’s new direction.

The data was gathered since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March and published to coincide with this weekend’s showcase Monaco Grand Prix.

US-based Liberty Media took over as commercial rights holders in January, with former commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone moving aside.

The data revealed that, compared to a 2015 survey, there was a 44% increase in fans’ belief that Formula One was ‘the pinnacle of motorsport’ and a 43% improvement in the statement that the sport fields ‘the best drivers’. It also showed that the average age of a Formula One fan was coming down – 26% of those who took part were under 25 – with an average age of below 36.

There were also more female respondents than previously, albeit still only 10% of the total. But fewer fans were watching regularly compared to 2015 due to dwindling free-to-air opportunities.

Hamilton, now a triple world champion, saw his popularity double compared to 2015 and the Briton commands a level of global fan support not seen since the heyday of seven-times champion Michael Schumacher.

The Mercedes driver’s support was strongest in Europe and the Americas. Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were ranked third and fourth, behind McLaren’s Spaniard Alonso.

Raikkonen was previously the favourite and while his levels of support remained broadly the same, the top two had seen a surge in popularity.

Ferrari was ranked as the top team by nearly a third of respondents, almost double that of the Italian outfit’s closest rivals Mercedes.

Mercedes was the most popular team in Britain, presumably due to Hamilton, but not in Germany.

Red Bull’s 19-year-old Dutch driver Max Verstappen proved more popular among the over-45s than in his own age bracket.

Fans in the Asia-Pacific region were 50% more likely to attend a race than those in Europe, and MotoGP was the next most followed series after Formula One.