This was back in 2014: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mo...-the-worlds-most-marketable-sportsperson.html He currently sits at 24 but there is still no other F1 driver ahead of him. He is also ahead of the likes of Messi, Bolt, Ronaldo, Mcllroy etc. From what I can see the only other racing car driver in the top 50 is Chase Elliot of Nascar. There is also Marc Maquez at 19 who is in MotoGP. http://www.sportspromedia.com/most_marketable To still be in there despite his dominance and how boring F1 is seen these days he has to be doing something right. Now I know articles like these are not cold hard facts and are just the opinions of the people/companies writing them and I don't take their word as gospel but the fact he is talked about shows he's known and marketable.
I'd concur he markets himself much more than any other driver, but is that really worth anything to Mecedes? In football, I get that e.g. Ronaldinho sells a lot of shirts and so his high wages are offset by the merchandising, but I don't see Hamilton turning up at Paris fashion week, is resulting in either more Mercs or Merc caps getting sold? Or to put it another way if Ricciardo was schooling Rosberg on his way to his third championship, would they really be selling any less? To some extent Brand Hamilton the "socialite" and brand Hamilton the F1 driver are pretty separate, I can see some effect in terms of awareness of F1 in new circles, but very little beyond that.
I seem to remember Boss getting quite annoyed that Lewis was going to fashion shows and saying how great the clothes were but not promoting Boss (major Merc sponsor)! I think that as Lewis negotiated his own contract with Merc he managed to get out of a lot of the corporate sponsor & promo work and gave himself flexibility to promote and earn without Merc having a say. It's almost like Lewis has to promote Merc at F1 weekends and at all other times he can promote what he wants?
No one talking about monza being dropped? Imola have signed from 2017 to hold the ITALY GP (Although it strikes me as possibly being another Donnington situation). I've never been a massive fan of monza tbh so I'll with hold judgement for now - at least Italy still has a GP!
It's signed by Bernie and the circuit, but still needs to be ratified by the gouvernment so it's still along way from being guaranteed. Can't see Monza being dropped or even alternated as suggested.
The very fact that we are talking about losing Monza tells you what a state this sport is in. Imola would be good to have back alone as well as Monza. Why oh why do we have to put up with complete turd like China and Russia?
My guess is Bernie is doing his normal divide and conquer. By signing a contract with Imola he puts Monza and the Italian national sporting authority on their back foot. If the Italian national sporting authority refuse to ratify the Imola contract then they have to either have no Italian GP or help Monza pay Bernie and cover losses. So as normal Bernie is in control and twisting the arm of his foe. I would bet that Monza will resign the GP contract and be paying significantly more that they wanted.
Sauber have been sold, seems to be secure for the moment, and fingers crossed for a healthy outlook. http://www.crash.net/f1/news/232246/1/sauber-secures-f1-future-with-change-of-ownership.html
On the face of it that's good news. Pity Peter Sauber is stepping down but he deserves a decent retirement. Not sure how long Monisha will last. Fingers crossed they will be happy to put some decent funding in to the team.
First off I do feel sorry for the victim but who in their right mind would think they can get money out of Bernie by kidnapping his mother in law???? I do hope she is ok and returned safely.
Unfortunately, the kidnappers must be encouraged by recent allegations of bribery and his willingness to buy his way out of trouble. Bernie's mother-in-law is young enough to be his daughter. Sao Paulo is a seriously dangerous city, and although kidnappings have reduced enormously from a decade ago, they have had a history of resulting in killing the victim where deals were not done. I'm guessing this crime will have been perpetrated by the cleverest and most dangerous of gangs. I'm also guessing that Bernie will pay up (or perhaps negotiate their demands downward a few million) on condition that it will not be reported. Western ideologies mean that there is a tendency for the press to be suppressed when it comes to the paying of ransoms.
From BBC: Halo: Bernie Ecclestone says F1 will not introduce protection system in 2017 please log in to view this image Formula 1 bosses have voted against introducing the 'halo' head protection system next season, chief executive Bernie Ecclestone says. The strategy group of Ecclestone, six leading teams and FIA president Jean Todt decided on Thursday the system needed further work. "We'll have to look into it in more detail," Ecclestone told BBC Sport. "When you look at it, it was yes and no - we haven't really got a lot of positives." Ecclestone, who had made clear his opposition to the halo concept before the meeting, added: "But we've learned a lot about what to do. We will look into it further." The decision is likely to be met with consternation by the drivers. 'I don't think there's anything that really justifies death' Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel said on Thursday at the German Grand Prix that they were overwhelmingly in favour of the device being introduced in 2017. Speaking before the outcome of the vote was known, Vettel said: "I think 90-95% [of the drivers] voted for it. We don't like the looks of it but I don't think there's anything that really justifies death. "We've always learned from what happened, incidents that happened on the track, and we've always tried to improve. "Now, that would be the first time I think in human history that we've learned a lesson and we don't change. It's up to us to make sure it does happen, otherwise I think we'd be quite stupid." Vettel, as one of the three directors of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, is in a position to speak with authority on his peers' wishes. However, the strategy group vote is not necessarily the final act in the saga. The FIA has the right to introduce any change it wants on grounds of safety, without the approval of the teams or Ecclestone. Todt has told his fellow strategy group members privately that he would rather go with the consensus, but he will now have to consider the liability risks facing the FIA and F1 following their decision not to introduce a device that has been shown to increase safety. The risk for the sport is that if the halo is not introduced and a driver is seriously injured or killed in the type of accident where the device is designed to reduce risks, they would be open to legal action and have problems defending their decisions. The strategy group is also said to have freed up radio communications, the restrictions on which have become a contentious issue this season. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/36919451
I understand the need for Saftey improvements but for me this has been an ill thought knee jerk reaction.
Supposedly the FIA presented the drivers with the results of research into various different crash scenarios, concludong that in all cases the Halo would have a positive influence or at least no negative impact. If that's the case then the arguments against the Halo narrow to being aesthetic only I guess. If it's used in 2017, that doesn't mean the idea has to be considered a complete solution for ever more, but it does appear that the FIA believe it to be a net safety benefit. The idea can be further refined and more solutions tested ahead of future seasons. There just hasn't been time to fully test other solutions, and the Red Bull aeroscreen concept failed in testing.
