Sports ticketing and data-insights platform Fanatix has released new findings on how much Formula 1 drivers earn per sponsored Instagram posts from fake followers. See the results below.
Red Bull’s lead Formula 1 driver, Max Verstappen, who currently holds the title of reigning and four-time World Champion, reportedly earns $65 million (around R1.1 billion) annually, while seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton pockets $57.2 million (around R983.26 million) yearly in his contract with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team. These high-profile F1 drivers have amassed a sizeable number of online followers, which subsequently earns them extra income. However, not all their followers are legit. This begs the question: how many of their followers are fake, and how much do they earn from these fake social media followers?
According to Fanatix, who analysed data from F1 drivers’ Instagram accounts, here are the top three drivers who earn the most from fake followers. Topping the list is Lewis Hamilton, who boasts the largest Instagram following – around 41.6 million. However, 27.84 % (over 11.5 million) of Hamilton’s Instagram followers are fake. Hamilton makes an estimated $36 830 (around R633 100) per post from fake Instagram followers.
Charles Leclerc is the second-highest earner when it comes to fake followers, despite having one of the smallest proportions of fake followers at 15.93% of his total followers. Leclerc earns an estimated $10 741 (around R184 635) per post from his 3.3 million fake Instagram followers. Following closely, in third place, Max Verstappen reportedly earns around $9 895 (around R170 093) from his fake followers, which make up 18.63% (over 3.1 million) of his total followers.
Notably, Fernando Alonso has the highest percentage of fake followers: 34.55% (over 2.6 million) of his total 7.6 million Instagram followers are fake, which accounts for $8 350 of his total earnings per post.
Formula 1 drivers aren’t the only ones who have a large bot following on Instagram, though. Around a quarter of some of the top F1 teams’ Instagram followers are fake. A whopping 28.98% of Mclaren’s Instagram followers are fake, making up almost 4.7 million out of the 16.2 million total followers. Williams Racing has far fewer followers, at 4.9 million. However, 27.17% (over 1.3 million) of those are fake. Racing Bulls ranks third highest percentage of fake followers, with 26.95% (997 150) of their 3.7 million followers being bots. Most notably, despite having one of the smallest percentages of fake followers among top teams at 23.10%, they have the highest amount of bot followers at almost 7.1 million.
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