8 F1 people are on the 2018 Sunday Times Rich List - here’s who made it in…
Most F1 folk have more money than you, this lot most certainly have
This week saw the publication of the annual 'Sunday Times Rich List', a tome of prosperity, opulence and riches, designed to make those included in it feel better about their lot in life and the rest of us just a little worse.
Entry level to the top 1,000 wealthy UK folks list starts this year at £115m, so spare a thought for poor Jenson Button, no longer worthy of inclusion with his paltry £86m.
Here though are the eight F1 luminaries who did make it. Just one current driver and team boss feature, with most of the rest proving it helps to have married or worked for Bernie Ecclestone.
P1 - BERNIE ECCLESTONE AND FAMILY £2.48BN
Long live the King!
Down from his once lofty heights in the list, (those mega-mansions for his daughters don't come cheap, you know) the former F1 supremo is still head and shoulders above (no joke intended) all others in F1 in the wonga stakes.
The Sunday Times does make the point that individuals may have far more wealth than they can attribute to them and with various trusts and holdings, you can bet Mr E still has enough stuffed under the mattress for his autumn years.
(Overall list position 56. No change from 2017)
P2 - SLAVICA ECCLESTONE £740M
Never a ladder around when you need one.
The former Mrs Ecclestone became one of the wealthiest women in the UK when her fairytale romance with Bernard ended in 2008.
Still, £740 million quid makes her twice as rich as Her Majesty The Queen, so that no doubt helped soften the blow.
(Overall list position 185. No change from 2017)
P3 - PADDY MCNALLY £610M
Paddy McNally (he's the one on the right).
Who? I hear you say.
If you think F1 is awash with cash now, this is peanuts compared to when tobacco money was being poured into the sport.
Paddy was in charge of trackside advertising and the Paddock Club and clearly did rather well out of it.
Generally more well known for going out with Sarah Ferguson before she hitched up with Prince Andrew.
Life can't be all a bed of roses.
(Overall list position 219. No change from 2017)
P4 - RON DENNIS £450M
Numbers 344 and 287 on The Sunday Times Rich List.
For 35 years the chief of McLaren, overseeing a raft of drivers and constructors titles in the 1980's and 1990's before being ousted in a boardroom coup at the end of 2016.
The man who made McLaren into a legendary squad.
I bet he can hardly bear to watch these days.
(Overall list position 287. No change from 2017)
P5 - TOTO AND SUSIE WOLFF £322M
F1's golden couple. Well, them and the Horners.
The Sunday Times say: 'She was once known as the fastest woman in the world, thanks to her role as the only female driver in Formula One".
Right.
That aside, she and hubby Torger, have a 30% stake in the Mercedes F1 team (no wonder he bangs the desk when things go wrong) and this allied to his other business interests sees their housekeeping budget going up at a steady rate of knots.
(Overall list position 386. Up £82m from 2017)
P6 - TONY FERNANDES £256M
Fernandes, no mug when it comes to making money, though better at 'planes than cars..
Tony Fernandes joined the F1 grid in 2010 with his Lotus team which then became Team Lotus and finally Caterham.
It didn't matter what they were called as they never scored a point and the promise of F1 budget cuts never happened and so disillusioned with the sport, he quit in 2014 and the team, much loved by fans, went soon after.
Here we are, four years later, with at least two teams in dire risk of being killed off by costs. F1 never learns does it?
(Overall list position 473. Up £72m from 2017)
P7 - LEWIS HAMILTON £159M
Bless.
Thanks to him being quite good at F1, Lewis has, over the years, negotiated a series of ever more lucrative contracts.
His latest one with Mercedes, due to be signed off soon, is reputed to equal the gross domestic product of Belgium.
With a fleet of luxury cars, a private jet, a globetrotting party lifestyle and more jewellery than a branch of H Samuel, the money seems to come in quicker than he can spend it.
You can guarantee he'll be somewhat higher up in the list this time next year.
(Overall list position 742. Up £28m from 2017)
P8 - THE 7TH MARQUESS OF BUTE £147M
The Marquess (right) with some other racing driver bloke.
To his racing pals, better known as Johnny Dumfries, who raced with the Lotus F1 team in 1986.
He didn't have the best of seasons - it included many retirements and a best of fifth at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and he ended the year on just three points, just the 52 behind his teammate, one Ayrton Senna.
Still, the family fortune meant he didn't have to sign on the dole and instead he turned his attention to sportscars, at which he seemed not too bad, winning the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Nice work M'Lud!
(Overall list position =804. Up £21m from 2017)
Join In
Comments (3)
Hi congratulations - your post has been selected by DriveTribe F1 Ambassador for promotion on the DriveTribe homepage.
I don't see Michael Schumacher in the list?
UK based people.