Alonso is media's top driver - study

A university study has found that world champion Fernando Alonso is the most media-popular driver in formula one. The University of Navarra, situated in the north of Spain, said research based on the quantity of internet pages and news items shows that the 25-year-old McLaren driver is having the greatest impact on the world's media, notwithstanding the near-unprecedented attention devoted to his rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton.

In the Italian and German markets, however, Kimi Raikkonen came out on top, presumably due to his association with Maranello based Ferrari and the fact that in 2007 he replaces Germany's retired seven time world champion Michael Schumacher, who occupied Alonso's role as most media-popular a year ago.

Ferrari, meanwhile, is the most media-popular team, beating McLaren, the university study found, and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone the most famous non-driving formula one personality.

Jean Todt (Ferrari) is the most popular boss, followed by Ron Dennis (McLaren) and Renault's Flavio Briatore