I am basing this on negative media, questionable behaviour, documented arrogance, Disqualifications from races for CHEATING - audiences turning off in droves due to his arrogance and the race fixes and Reubens crying on the podium etc. I conclude that MS was responsible for certain crowd stopping to watch F1 due to the qualities mentioned above
Lewis on the other hand has brought more brand new fans into F1 just because he started racing
So there you have it, I am basing this on facts,
You're not really supplying facts though. It's all very vague. What certain crowd are you talking about? And which audience
turned off in droves? The early one, the late one - when exactly? He had a long career, esp at Ferrari, much of it was very
exciting, with thrilling battles for the championship? Did this have people turning away?
He pulled a long list of needlessly daft sh!t, he had a dark side, but he was clearly the driver of his generation, and turned,
along with Brawn and Todt, a flagging Ferrari, F1's flagship team, into a powerhouse.
Ferrari's popularity was immense, and although he was a divisive character, so was Schumacher's. They were hand in glove.
I've never seen anything come close to the sea of red crowds at races I attended and watched on TV. Their ultimate
domination was not unlike RBs, mainly because the other teams couldn't mount a sustainable challenge, and in the end it
got too dull and predictable because with no strong teammate challenge (which was ridiculous, I know) there was nobody
to challenge him. That was ten years in the making though.
But yeah people turned off, and not once turned on just to watch MS, simply because he was arrogant and he cheated,
and he didn't make
your underpants sparkle like Lewis does.