18 replies to this topic

[Kekefan]

I was wondering who was the first F1 driver to reach the 1 million $$ in career earnings.

I think myself that it is probably one of these 3 drivers: Clark, GHill or Stewart.

[KWSN - DSM]

Originally posted by Kekefan
I was wondering who was the first F1 driver to reach the 1 million $$ in career earnings.

I think myself that it is probably one of these 3 drivers: Clark, GHill or Stewart.

Hard to say.

Mony used to be worth so much more, meaning that you could by a car for less than Usd 1000. The drivers in the 1930ies made their mony from prizemony only, I think I saw a listing that Hans Stuck (the elder) made Usd 113000,- in 1938!!! That must be more than a Million in todays mony.

But I would guess Jackie Stewart as the first one.

[schuy]

I will concede my knowledge in the politics and even paychecks in F1 of the old days is not at it's best, but I remember having read that Stirling Moss was one of the first proffesional drivers to actually earn serious money from F1.

Is that true or does that have no basis?

[Don Capps]

Originally posted by KWSN - DSM
The drivers in the 1930ies made their mony from prizemony only, I think I saw a listing that Hans Stuck (the elder) made Usd 113000,- in 1938!!! That must be more than a Million in todays mony.

There was starting money in the 1930's -- and earlier, along with the prize money: the former being a private bargain struck between the team and the organizers and the prize money being public knowledge.

If you count only the prize monies from F1, then that eliminates a big chunk of the money that a driver earned. Fangio was certainly very well positioned when he finally retired with his Mercedes-Benz dealership and Daimler-Benz connections. Moss was very well compensated for his efforts. As was Jackie Stewart. Jim Clark did quite well, but sorting that out could be a challenge. Not until the 1980's did driver compensation reach the levels that made more than a few go, "Bloody hell!" Scheckter's salary from Ferrari was a pittance in comparison to what was being doled out just a decade latter.

[WACKO]

From what I know, Stewart was the first champion to earn serious money. Throughout the sixties there came more sponsorship. However, teams like Lotus refused to pay their drivers a lot and Brabham for example needed the money to run his team, so Stewart was indeed the first driver earning a decent wage, but I can not mention the exact figures.

[David Lawson]

Wasn't Jim Clark the first grand prix driver to tax exile himself during 1967, did this indicate the level of his earnings exceeding the other drivers or was it just financial prudence?

David

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by schuy
I will concede my knowledge in the politics and even paychecks in F1 of the old days is not at it's best, but I remember having read that Stirling Moss was one of the first proffesional drivers to actually earn serious money from F1.

Is that true or does that have no basis?

Stirling himself claimed that, after paying all his expenses, he made "about as much as a top surgeon" in his best year. And most of that was retainers from fuel/oil companies as well as his share of starting money! (I guess most of his money was made after racing, with his investments in property in London!)

I get the impression that the money grew through the sixties, to the point that Jimmy took his year's tax exile and established his official residence outside the UK, and JYS and Rindt were probably the first two drivers to actually think of themselves as marketable commodities....

(and thinkinmg about it, Jimmy made a lot more money out of Indy than out of GP racing, didn't he?)

[VAR1016]

Originally posted by David Lawson
Wasn't Jim Clark the first grand prix driver to tax exile himself during 1967, did this indicate the level of his earnings exceeding the other drivers or was it just financial prudence?

David

Hardly surprising in 1967: "One for you, nineteen for me" sang the Beatles of the taxman.

At that time, Britain had an extremely greedy and confiscatory government; tax rates went up to 95% - on earned income.

Outrageous; but not as outrageous as Roy Jenkins: under his chancellorship it was possible to pay 105% tax.

Such incompetence takes one's breath away.

I believ that James Hunt had about £2,000,000 when he left F1, but I believe that his wife took most of it.

PdeRL

[Vitesse2]

A glance through the motoring (and other) magazines of the 60s will show that Jack Brabham and Graham Hill in particular were endorsing all sorts of products, which must have provided them with a pretty good income. Clark did a lot of work for Ford too.

Graham's career earnings from seven races in USAC were $181655, Clark's were $334213 from ten, so possibly they were a big part of the reason he moved abroad.

[Racer.Demon]

Of course, JYS teamed up with Mark McCormack, who was one of the pioneers of sports marketing and self-promotion.

So if you say "first F1 superstar", with the millionaire lifestyle that goes with it, I'd say Jackie Stewart.

[canon1753]

Lauda and BE came up with the 1st million dollar driver's contract in F1 for 1980.... Which after all was said and done Lauda walked away from.

Who was the first to make a million US (just from the contract from the team) in a season?

[Paolo]

Originally posted by VAR1016


I believ that James Hunt had about £2,000,000 when he left F1, but I believe that his wife took most of it.

PdeRL

It must be really hard to become emancipated if all you have to do to earn money is to get a male sign a wedding paper.

We'll never have a female World Champion until it will be easier to marry an ace at anything than to become one.

I cry for you, Western Civilization.

[Dave Ware]

I recall reading at the time that JYS earned $600,000 in 1973, and I assume this figure represented his entire income for the year. Of course that assumption could be incorrect.

An on-line inflation calculator shows that $600,000 in 1973 would be equal to about 2.5 million in 2002. http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

Other thoughts:

I recall reading, about the same year, that BRM paid it's drivers $156,000 per year. Or perhaps they just paid Beltoise that much.

And in Revson's biography, when he learned that he was to be released from McLaren at the end of '73, he made mention of having earned over $100,000 that year. (Alfa paid him $7,500 per race for sports cars.)

All that seemed like a lot of money then, but not much by today's standards.

Dave

[Tim Murray]

I vaguely recall reading in Autosport (probably in Nick Brittan's column), shortly after Hunt had won his championship, that Bernie had offered him a guaranteed £1 million in return for all Hunt's earnings for the following year. Hunt apparently turned the offer down. Does anyone know whether there is any truth to this story?

[Ralliart]

I never got the impression that Jim Clark was that well paid and, I BELIEVE, that the most recent biography on him had something to the effect that Chapman paid him as little as he could. I think Moss was the first driver to make some REAL money from the sport and that Stewart was the first actual millionaire.

[Falcadore]

The definition 'Career Earnings' makes this a veryhard question to judge. It's a phrase most usually referred to in Golf, and to a lesser extent Tennis, where athletes are individuals playing for cash prizes.

Motorsport of course doesn't work that way.

While competing for the big cardboard cheque is a very US pursuit, but not so much elsewhere, and certainly not in Formula One where drivers are salaried employees for the most part.

What a driver earns often has little to do with on field performances, but more to do with the negotiating skill of the driver's agent.

As such, I guess I'd like you to define the question better.

[petefenelon]

Motorsport of course doesn't work that way.

Neither does any major professional sport, these days.

[Kekefan]

I was talking about his salary + sponsor money + racing gains.
I've read that Niki Lauda won 11 millions $$ in his F1 career and Jacky Ickx 2.2 millions$$; they didn't give more details so it has to be somebody before Ickx...
I don't think that Clark was around long enough. Moss and Fangio were not in good money years, G.Hill had his success at the beginning of his career. I think that Stewart had his best years when there was more $$$ around after 1968 (sponsors) and he is still piling up the $$$ today.

[conjohn]

Looking at it from another angle: Lance Reventlow...