5 replies to this topic

[Michael Ferner]

... by starting with a big one!" is an old adage I immediately recalled when I recently came upon an article in a mid-seventies US newspaper about a rookie Sprint Car owner in central Indiana, allegedly the youngest in the world at 21 years of age. The financial background of the young chap was, sadly, not revealed, but the big article (almost half a page with picture!) revelled in the monetary value of the various bits and pieces that made up the fella's pride and joy. The season was still young, about early May, but an accident and a couple of mechanical issues had already driven the total capital investment north of the USD 10,000 mark, quite a lot of money in those days, and the young man was faced with the prospect of missing the next race or two at the local speedway because the car was still in the docks.

 

The last paragraph, then, dealt with the credit part of the ledger, on which there was a total of nine dollars, after deduction of the customary 40 % take of the driver...

[arttidesco]

When I raced my 2CV in 1990 I got through £9995 pounds which included three races, one the Mondello Park 24 hours and ended with a written off car after a traffic accident in Fulham I probably would have ended my career earlier if I had taken 40% and probably would not have got involved in that traffic accident

[DouglasM]

I never counted the money, if I did I'd have given up..

[ray b]

I always wonder about the money in F-1 in the old days

 

in the USA the prize money was listed in the newspapers

and some listed yearly winnings to date more then points

as money was the point not the ''points''

 

while euro races acted like money was a big secret

 

are there any list of starting money paid in the 50's or 60's major F-1 races ?

prize funds if any

 

then there is the whole sponsor funding for gas oil tyres sparkplugs ect

 

and the cost side of a car or motor rebuild or tyres entry fees ect

 

and how a team split all that with the driver

[Glengavel]

I always wonder about the money in F-1 in the old days

 

in the USA the prize money was listed in the newspapers

and some listed yearly winnings to date more then points

as money was the point not the ''points''

 

 

 

This is the case with golf, the PGA European Tour final rankings are determined by how much money a player has earned in a  year.

[D-Type]

I always wonder about the money in F-1 in the old days

 

 etc

Sometimes the prize money was listed in the programme but as you say this doesn't tell the whole picture. Apart from isolated references in biographies and team histories, the values of starting money, appearance money, sponsor bonuses, transport subsidies and the like are not available as they were not made public at the time.

 

I believe that the US GP at Watkins Glen was the first GP to have a published prize fund, ie payment by results, without any starting money.

 

Driver contracts varied, but often there was a split of prize money 60:40, 50:50 or 40:60 were common, the better the driver the better the deal he could negotiate. This might extend to some of the other payments but this would depend on who the payment was made to, eg (hypothetically) BRP might be paid more starting money if Stirling Moss was in the car than they would get for Chris Bristow. Some bonuses from product manufacturers were paid direct to the drivers.