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Formula 1: Max Verstappen ranked one of world’s most marketable athletes

By Asher Fair

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - AUGUST 03: Pole position qualifier Max Verstappen of Netherlands and Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying for the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on August 03, 2019 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - AUGUST 03: Pole position qualifier Max Verstappen of Netherlands and Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying for the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on August 03, 2019 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /
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Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen was ranked among the most marketable athletes in the world by SportsPro in their annual 50 Most Marketable.

SportsPro recently revealed their 10th annual 50 Most Marketable, a top 50 list in which they rank the 50 most marketable athletes in the world across all sports based on their marketing potential over the upcoming three years.

SportsPro is the leading sports business media company across print, digital and events, and they rank the 50 athletes in this list based on several factors pertaining to marketability.

According to their website, these 50 athletes are ranked based on factors including but not limited to “age, home market, crossover appeal, charisma and willingness to be marketed”.

Additionally, Hookit, their official data partner, produces a Promotional Effectiveness Score that takes into account how effective of a promoter each athlete is on social media, and this also plays a part in these rankings.

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Like last year, there were two Formula 1 drivers in this year’s list. But only one of the drivers from the list last year returned to the list this year.

That driver was Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

Verstappen, 21, has competed in Formula 1 since the 2015 season when he drove for Scuderia Toro Rosso, effectively the Red Bull Racing junior team. Four races into the 2016 season, he was promoted to Red Bull Racing, and he was victorious in his first race driving for the team, the Spanish Grand Prix.

He has driven for the Milton Keynes-based team ever since, and he has earned a total of seven victories and 27 podium finishes. He had recorded five victories at an age when no other driver in Formula 1 history had even won one race. So far this season, he has won two races, and a third victory would make the 2019 season his winningest season since joining the sport.

In last year’s 50 Most Marketable, Verstappen was ranked at #40. This year, the Dutchman climbed 21 positions and is ranked at #19. His appearance in this year’s list is his third, as he was also ranked at #38 in his first entry in 2017.

Lewis Hamilton, the five-time and soon-to-be six-time Formula 1 champion who was ranked in last year’s 50 Most Marketable but did not return this year, was ranked at #1 just five years ago as a one-time champion, so Verstappen’s climb to the top may not be finished.

For the full 50 Most Marketable, click here.

Next. Top 10 Formula 1 drivers of all-time. dark

Max Verstappen and the rest of the Formula 1 field are scheduled to end their summer break this weekend at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium with the Belgian Grand Prix, which is set to be broadcast live on ESPN2 beginning at 9:05 a.m. ET on Sunday, September 1.

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