What's a driver worth?

I think Kimi is an exceptional driver but what he lacked for the Ferrari's and McLaren's was sponsorship appeal - he was not interested in the commercial aspect in the slightest, just racing - which I found very refreshing. Here we have somebody that quietly did a very good job at lurking and executing some excellent races and overtakes without drawing attention to himself. He just got on with it, and got on with it well. I've just read up and pretty much echo what Jenov has said.

I still cannot get my head around Massa's salary other than being a Ferrari driver.
 
My Kimi nutshell, I think he was one of the fastest drivers F1 has had.

I just don't think he was No.1 driver material. If he was in F1 today I think he would be best placed as Schumacher's teammate.

I believe his problem at Ferrari was that he was brought on as a No.1 driver, but emotionally required a strong support - Massa was not that man, therefore Kimi felt the pressure from Felipe's performance too strongly.

If he could have been given a a strong experienced, but past their prime No.2 driver he could have dominated in many seasons, but how many teams that attract top drivers target placing that style of No.2 driver, none. Reason being, most No.1 drivers want their tune played, not their teammate's
 
I find these sums to be mind-boggling.

I jsut came across an article where Brian Redman said Porsche paid him $750 per race except for Sebring, Daytona and Le Mans, where they paid him $1000 each to race the 917!!!!!!
 
I fairness to F1 drivers they do put their lives at risk every time they sit in a car, albeit the risk today is significantly reduced compared to the early days of F1. How the salaries of the men who throw, hit, kick of bounce a ball are justified is beyond me though.
 
I can never get too worked up over Athlete's salaries. There are far more people out there in the world that contribute far less to society that collect similar paychecks. These people are never seen or heard from, nor is the money they siphon out of the system.

Don't get me wrong, I'll have a go at underperforming millionaire for his lack of production on the playing field, but not simply because he makes an astronomical sum.

Owners, General Managers, Advertisers, Media Outlets, Fans, and the like have created this environment. Players are the monetary beneficiaries.
 
Wow that article is eye opening, although not his salary itself (I cannot start to comprehend that!), what got me was this:
FTSE 100 directors enjoyed a 55% rise in earnings last year.
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I wish there was a rule linking their possible salary increase to the average salary change within a company, and also that their bonus % was at least linked to that of the average worker. *sigh*

On topic, I agree with Keke that it is hard to get overly worked up about the salaries of sport stars, and with the salary they receive I don't believe that their performance is linked to (absolute) pay.
 
To argue with myself, as the players on sports teams are the "assets" I suppose what they get paid is relative to the revenue the team can bring in and all the while we (myself included) are daft enough to pay for subscription TV and fork out for the excessive turnstile prices they will carry on paying their "stars" what they do.

The salaries of US sports stars are mind boggling though. I though Premier League footballers were paid excessive amounts but it's peanuts compared to some of those guys.
 
FB said:
To argue with myself, as the players on sports teams are the "assets" I suppose what they get paid is relative to the revenue the team can bring in and all the while we (myself included) are daft enough to pay for subscription TV and fork out for the excessive turnstile prices they will carry on paying their "stars" what they do.

The salaries of US sports stars are mind boggling though. I though Premier League footballers were paid excessive amounts but it's peanuts compared to some of those guys.
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I find the sums thrown at all sorts of "non-entities" obscene and absolutely abhor the greed of our World - it would be easy to say the "Western" world, but now it seems to be a global affliction - even in countries where the average mortal does not have enough to have more than 3 or 4 meals a week, their leaders are squirrelling away government money for their own benefit.

I can categorically say that no-one, but no-one is worth more than they need.

Please note that I used the word need not "want".

Whereas I understand that F1 is an expensive sport - Bernie's doing to a degree? - and the chaps could put their life at risk (but not really anymore) - are they actually WORTH what they are paid?
 
FB said:
To argue with myself, as the players on sports teams are the "assets" I suppose what they get paid is relative to the revenue the team can bring in...
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This is the point i always make. This is just how capitalism works. You can't say we should take this money away from them and give it to soldiers or doctors without accidentally making a very profound political statement. It is a nice idea, but if we believed it worked we would be voting for socialist parties next election.
 
Aren't most of these sums paid from sponsors though? It's not as if it's anything other than rich companies giving money to rich people. It's not like it's coming out of taxes so what does it matter if they get paid alot? if the people with the money think they're worth it for their appeal that's their choice.

The monarchy on the other hand....
 
EvilWhippet said:
Aren't most of these sums paid from sponsors though? It's not as if it's anything other than rich companies giving money to rich people. It's not like it's coming out of taxes so what does it matter if they get paid alot? if the people with the money think they're worth it for their appeal that's their choice.

The monarchy on the other hand....
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Yup, i think the biggest part of Alonso's pay check is coming from Santander.
 

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