There was a great deal of controversy surrounding Canadian driver
Lance Stroll past year. In the opinion of many, his billionaire father would be
the only leverage to the young driver's career. This opinion seems to prevail in
many countries, except Canada, I suppose. Time - that is, the 2018 season -
will tell whether or not Lance has any talent, for he will need it to get this
latest Williams far up the grid.
However, this post is not about Lance. After all, Lance’s
father is very much alive, so Lance himself is not
an extremely wealthy individual just yet. As the post is entitled "The
wealthiest Formula 1 driver in the world", do the math.
Yes, I know a certain Bernard Ecclestone tried to qualify
for the 1958 Monaco and British Grand Prix with an old Connaught-Alta. At the time a mere car
dealer, Bernie was very optimistic to think that had any chance to start the
race, for, among other things, there was a huge entry list that year. Bernie's
competitive career is somewhat obscure. Ecclestone was not the only top Formula
1 team owner to have tried a career as a driver. Ken Tyrrell, Max Mosley, Frank
Williams, Eddie Jordan, among others, also drove competitively without much
success. Colin Chapman, in my opinion, could have been a good driver, and Enzo
Ferrari was not a bad driver in the 20’s. On the other hand, multi-champion
Alain Prost tried to own a F1 team and was a failure. Le Professeur was
completely out of his element as team chief. To each his own.
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The world's richest former Formula One driver is neither
Michael Schumacher nor Ayrton Senna's estate. Not Jackie Stewart, either. Do not even think
about Eddie Irvine, although he has been exemplary in terms of investing his
money.
He is an Italian driver who did not do very well, at least in
F1. He tried to qualify 15 times between 1989 and 1990, and actually ran 9 GPs
with Minardi. At the time, F1 had an immense number of Italian pilots, among
them Alboreto, Patrese, Nannini, so he did not stand out even among its
countrymen. His best finish was a timid 11th. place. He won races in Italian
F3, but when he tried his luck on the F-2 and F3000, he did not do well.
However, in sports cars he had a reasonable resume. In fact, he won the Le Mans
24 Hours of 1985 with Klaus Ludwig and John Winter, other less expressive
races, and also drove for the Lancia and Toyota teams.
His name, Paolo Barilla, who according to Forbes magazine,
has a fortune of $ 1.3 billion. He and his brothers inherited the largest pasta
maker in Italy, the homonymous Barilla.
2020 UPDATE
Some people have taken exception to this post, stating that Bernie Ecclestone and Roger Penske were probably wealthier than Barilla. As for the first, his fortune can be at best estimated. Penske's fortune has allegedly taken a hit as of late, and probably more so during the 2020 pandemic. As for pasta, people are still eating tons of it, all over the world. I also believe that Barilla at least tried to have a career as a race driver, which cannot be said of either Bernie and Roger, who were business people doing some driving on the side.
Some people have mentioned Revson(!), Pedro Diniz (!!!), and even Johnny Dumfries. I have no idea how much Prince Bira was worth, he might have been a more likely candidate.
Since the subject of money in racing apparently arises your interest, you should know that I have written an entire chapter on money in racing in my book Motor Racing in the 70s - Pivoting from Romantic to Organized. The issue is not discussed only in terms of Formula 1: Sports Car, Le Mans, USAC, NASCAR, Lower Formulae, Can AM, Interserie, Formula 5000, IROC Formula Super Vee, Touring Cars and other categories are also discussed, providing some rare facts and figures in regards to this issue. Hundreds of sources were researched for the book.
TO BUY MY BOOK Click here https://www.amazon.com/Motor-Racing-70s-Pivoting-Organized/dp/1732674426 You may also buy it from amazon stores i UK, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Mexico, India, Australia, Spain, Japan, providing the ISBN number 9781732674424.
The book is not only about money, of course. It has 472 pages, 242 photos, and provides highlights of global racing in the decade, with long lists of venues and drivers from 85 countries, hundreds of unknown manufacturers, short bios of main personalities from the period, essays on the main racing categories of the world, with applicable rare statistics. Some of the information will blow your mind away.
Since the subject of money in racing apparently arises your interest, you should know that I have written an entire chapter on money in racing in my book Motor Racing in the 70s - Pivoting from Romantic to Organized. The issue is not discussed only in terms of Formula 1: Sports Car, Le Mans, USAC, NASCAR, Lower Formulae, Can AM, Interserie, Formula 5000, IROC Formula Super Vee, Touring Cars and other categories are also discussed, providing some rare facts and figures in regards to this issue. Hundreds of sources were researched for the book.
TO BUY MY BOOK Click here https://www.amazon.com/Motor-Racing-70s-Pivoting-Organized/dp/1732674426 You may also buy it from amazon stores i UK, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Mexico, India, Australia, Spain, Japan, providing the ISBN number 9781732674424.
The book is not only about money, of course. It has 472 pages, 242 photos, and provides highlights of global racing in the decade, with long lists of venues and drivers from 85 countries, hundreds of unknown manufacturers, short bios of main personalities from the period, essays on the main racing categories of the world, with applicable rare statistics. Some of the information will blow your mind away.
johnny dumfries? peter revson? pedro diniz?
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ReplyDeleteBarllla non ha mai chiesto del denaro a suo papà ,era sua mamma che lo aiutava economicamente , il suo garage e spettacolare con alcune Ferrari di F1 e altre F1 Williams
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