The wealthiest Formula 1 driver on Earth

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.

You might be a tad disappointed that the guy's net worth was basically the result of inheritance. Be that as it may, he is by far the richest Formula 1 driver ever.

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. 

Carlos de Paula is one of the top Brazilian Portuguese translators in the USA since 1982. And now a top Portuguese AI Translation editor as well. 

The German mid-70 reaction

Between Wolfgang Von Trips' 1961 title bid and Michael Schumacher's first title in 1994, German drivers went through a long drought in Formula 1. That, coming from a nation that utterly dominated GP racing in the second half of the 30's, must have been a blow.

German drivers during this interval usually did well in long-distance racing, hill climbs, touring cars and even in Formula 2. In fact, German drivers had been runner up in the European Formula 2 championship two years running, 1973 and 1974 (Jochen Mass and Hans Joachim Stuck), during a highly competitive era.

During a short spell, between the Spanish Grand Prix of 1975 and the U.S. Grand Prix East of 1977, the three main German drivers of the time rehearsed a bit of a reaction, that did not really come to fruition. All three, Jochen Mass, Rolf Stommelen and Hans Stuck, lead a Grand Prix in that period. Plus Jochen won the first half Grand Prix of the history of the sport.

Most unusually, Jochen Mass's single win came in the same race in which a fellow German, Rolf Stommelen, was leading for the first time as well, in a Lola, of all cars. The weekend had been one of those dramatic ones, which seemed destined to end in tragedy and so it did. The guard rails at Montjuich Park in Barcelona were coming apart, the drivers threatened a walkout, and at the end, only Emerson Fittipaldi and Arturo Merzario stuck to a plan, both doing a slow first lap in protest.

The two Ferrari's clashed at the start, with Emmo out, and other top racers in trouble, it seemed as if a surprise would spring about. In fact, Mario Andretti led in the Parnelli, and then Rolf Stommelen took the lead, in a car that up to that point had not frequented the front at all. However, the rear wing support collapsed, and Rolf crashed. He sustained serious injuries that sidelined him for a while, however, some spectators were not so lucky and perished. Jochen Mass picked up the lead, and thus, for the first time since 1961 a German driver won a Grand Prix, albeit under sad circumstances.

Rolf would never again be competitive in GP racing, however Mass had a plum ride at McLaren, where he stayed for three seasons. The closest he came to winning a race on sheer speed was the also tragic German Grand Prix of 1976. Jochen started on slicks, on a drying track, and by the end of the first lap had a 30 second lead over second place. Then Niki Lauda crashed, and Mass' advantage evaporated in the second start. From that point on, Mass always played second fiddle to James Hunt.

As for Hans Stuck, he ended up taking the seat vacated by Carlos Pace at Brabham Alfa Romeo in 1977. When Hans was negotiating his retainer at Bernie Ecclestone's office, the astute Brit said that Arturo Merzario was on the other line and would drive for 35 thousand dollars the whole season. Hans, who wanted 100 grand, then accepted driving for 30. Arturo was not at all on the line, but would have been a logical choice for the Alfa Romeo-engined team.

John Watson, the other Brabham driver, was very fast during the rest of the season, led races, however, had a dismal finish record. Hans, on the other hand, was not very fast in qualifying, however, posted a couple of podium finishes. By Watkins Glen, the German had to prove his worth, if he were to have a shot getting a good drive in 1978.


Hans and James Hunt in 1977

Hans did well at the Glen, and it was raining. Few raced better under the rain than Hans. He qualified second, and led the first few laps, but then trouble struck, and that was the end of Hans' life at the top in F1.

In the mid 80's, Stefan Bellof came into F1 and looked like a sure future champion. Unfortunately, his 1984 points were taken away due to Tyrrel's disqualification and he never had the opportunity to show what he was capable of.

Germans would only lead and win again in 1992, when a certain Michael Schumacher broke the pattern,  eventually winning his first Formula 1 title (and Germany's) in 1994.

Carlos de Paula is a translator, writer and auto racing historian living in Miami