Burning Rubber: Formula One drivers earn their wages

Formula One drivers. Prima donnas? Overpaid? Judge for yourself. But remember the skill and bravery they bring to their sport, plus the vast numbers of people they entertain and thrill live at the circuits and on television worldwide. They are an elite bunch, at the top end of the scale, with an off-track lifestyle envied by most and an on-track responsibility few of us would care to undertake with an equally committed bunch of drivers all around you in a madcap melee at 200mph.

Having spent a lifetime in close-up to the action and revelled in fervour-packed thrills galore and seen the tragic outcome of accidents like those that ended legend Ayrton Senna's life I believe they are worth every penny. Their vast fortunes may cushion their future — but is their future as secure and as certain as those of us who do not venture beyond the cosy realms of safety-first living?

Inevitably, there are those who do regard Formula One drivers as spoilt and pathetically fussed over — but I guess the majority share my view that for the returns they give at every level, professionally and as daredevil entertainers on a grand scale, they are worth their weight in gold.

It is reckoned that the legendary Michael Schumacher, the world champion seven times, 91 times a Grand Prix winner, and the most successful driver of all time amassed around £900 million (Dh5 billion) even before he made his £6.5 million a year come back this season with Mercedes. That latest pay packet puts him sixth in the wage league with double-champion Fernando Alonso, already an extremely rich man, collecting £24.5m annually , before bonuses, for his stint at Ferrari.

And that is more than double the Prancing Horse outfit is paying his teammate, Felipe Massa. The Brazilian, firmly number two in the eyes of the men from Maranello, is on £11.4m. They are still paying off sacked superstar and former champion Kimi Raikkonen who has switched to rallying and his figure appears on the F1 wage list as £13m. That's the same as Lewis Hamilton at McLaren - but he, too, will double that with personal arrangements and promotions. The 24-year-old, the champion two years ago, is better paid by nearly £7million than his teammate, the current title-holder, Jenson Button.

Schumacher shares the same pay-out as vastly improving Niko Rosberg, yet to be a winner, but a handsome, personable and highly promotable figure who regularly outpaces his fellow German teammate.

Down among the well-paid also-rans are Rubens Barrichello, the oldest and most experienced driver on the grid, on £4.5m and Red Bull's title pacemaker Mark Webber, amazingly, on "only" £3.4m. But even more staggering is that German wonderboy and sure-to-be-champion-soon Sebastian Vettel is on half that figure.

At the very bottom of the pay chart lies a man with the most famous surname of them all...Senna. Bruno. Nephew of the great Ayrton. His wages? A mere £122,000.

The writer is a motorsport expert based in London