[Driver] Ayrton Senna's contract with Lotus

[Bononi]

Just out of curiosity to anyone interested, here's Ayrton Senna's contract with Lotus, available in the internet :

http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/sdm14j00/pdf (30/01/1987)


Some funny clauses there...

[chillibowl]

cool, dont think i have ever seen an F1 drivers contract before.

smart to have a contract between the team and your promotion company.

not allowing motorcycles and skiing seem normal but specifically mentioning hang gliding...was there an incident in the past involving another driver and hang gliding or is this a bit of an insight into Senna's thrill seeking behaviour?

anyways good find and i look forward to reading it in more detail.

[Aysedasi]

Yes there was - I forget who - a French driver I believe....

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Yes there was - I forget who - a French driver I believe....

Patrick Depailler was badly injured in a hang gliding accident in 1979... I think he broke both legs... and had to be replaced at Ligier.

[Aysedasi]

That's the one!

[chillibowl]

good knowledge guys, however i would have preferred an answer in the form of pet shop boys lyrics!

[Bononi]

I guess Senna's passion for dangerous sports were well known... though he was really fan of go-karts and jet-ski.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

good knowledge guys, however i would have preferred an answer in the form of pet shop boys lyrics!

Everything I've ever done
Everything I ever do
Every place I've ever been
Everywhere I'm going to
It's a sin

[Bononi]

And here's Nelson Piquet's one : http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138487

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by davyboy

Everything I've ever done
Everything I ever do
Every place I've ever been
Everywhere I'm going to
It's a sin

brilliant!

[mountainstar]

Nice find.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

cool, dont think i have ever seen an F1 drivers contract before.

smart to have a contract between the team and your promotion company.

not allowing motorcycles and skiing seem normal but specifically mentioning hang gliding...was there an incident in the past involving another driver and hang gliding or is this a bit of an insight into Senna's thrill seeking behaviour?

anyways good find and i look forward to reading it in more detail.

Derek Bennett (owner designer of Chevron cars) was also killed in a hang gliding incident so hang gliding was regarded as a difficult and dangerous sport, more so than motor racing....

[b1ackcr0w]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Just out of curiosity to anyone interested, here's Ayrton Senna's contract with Lotus, available in the internet :

http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/sdm14j00/pdf (30/01/1987)


Some funny clauses there...

I wonder what the clause for negotiations with Pirelli was for? I thought that Goodyear had a pretty much closed deal at that point?

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

good knowledge guys, however i would have preferred an answer in the form of pet shop boys lyrics!

"Left on my own in Devises I probably would?"

[Asa]

US$1.5m salary and US$4,000 per point for 1987? That's so cheap compared to what the drivers earn today. Senna took 57 points in 1987 that means US$228,000.

That means he earned less than US$1.8m that year.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by Asa

US$1.5m salary and US$4,000 per point for 1987? That's so cheap compared to what the drivers earn today. Senna took 57 points in 1987 that means US$228,000.

That means he earned less than US$1.8m that year.

Plus the backing of Nacional Bank of Brasil..

[Teretonga]

There has been a lot of inflation since 1986..... So is that more like 4 million and 10,000 per point today? Only a handful of current drivers could command control that much....

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Asa

US$1.5m salary and US$4,000 per point for 1987? That's so cheap compared to what the drivers earn today. Senna took 57 points in 1987 that means US$228,000.

That means he earned less than US$1.8m that year.

Given the inflation and the rise in revenue in the sport since then, I was actually surprised he earned that much. I'd take that, even in today's money if you twist my arm!

[Bononi]

If I remember correctly, that was a breakthrough for driver's salaries at the time, specially Piquet's one. No driver earned so much at the time and then it started a new era of contracts in F1.

Senna had to move from England to Monaco (87) for tax reasons, you know what I mean.

Just for the record, that same year (88) Piquet started to live in his yatch newly built in Monaco, and had a jet and a helicopter to fly to the races... another trend soon to be followed by other drivers.

[barnettracing]

Originally Posted by Asa

US$1.5m salary and US$4,000 per point for 1987? That's so cheap compared to what the drivers earn today. Senna took 57 points in 1987 that means US$228,000.

That means he earned less than US$1.8m that year.

$1.8m (USD) in today's money is worth approximately $3.7m (USD). I'd shake your hand off for that contract. Especially to race a 99T.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Plus the backing of Nacional Bank of Brasil..

Banco Nacional was a private bank that became famous for sponsoring Senna. In 1994 (coincidence?) it went bankrupt and was bought by Unibanco Financial Group which merged with Itaú in 2008 to become Itaú Unibanco Banco Multiplo the largest financial holding of the south hemisphere and 30º biggest company in the world.

Sorry, that's my economist side showing off !

[Asa]

I just finished reading Peter Warr's book "My view from the pit wall" and he described the 1987-88 Senna contract was changed after Camel became Lotus' main sponsor instead of JPS.

Camel paid double what JPS was paying and Senna and his lawyer thus asked for more by claiming the old contract was invalid as Warr said Lotus would have JPS as sponsor in 1987.

Senna's fee rose from $2.6m to $5m over two years, and the fee was paid to him directly from RJ Reynolds (Camel's parent company).

In fact there were three contracts:
RJ Reynolds with Team Lotus
RJ Reynolds with Senna
Team Lotus with Senna

Senna exercised his option to leave Lotus for McLaren in 1988, so he got less than half of the $5m in 1987. (Warr wrote that the second year of the contract pays better than the first.) This contract is probably not the final version.

[steve_r]

A million dollars back then, would be like winning the lottery today. He was a (mere) hot up and coming young driver at the time, not the legendary multiple WDC that we know him as now.

[Rf1 Fan]

Interestingly, Grosjean used the same tactic to keep Total backing despite Mercedes engine at Lotus.

[Asa]

I think Ron Dennis also seeked Senna's services in the winter of 1986, therefore Peter Warr had to offer a higher fee. Ron Dennis said afterwards although they could not get Senna, Lotus now has no money to build a decent car after what they have to pay to keep Senna.

In a way I think Senna was the reason of Lotus' subsequent decline. If Peter Warr had been able to spend money on a wind tunnel or other technological stuff, then the team might have been able to keep up in the tech war.