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First F1 driver up for sale
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Formula One is a multi-billion dollar business but uncertain times have thrown a spanner in the works. The blazing-red Ferrari piloted by five-time world champion Michael Schumacher is widely expected to run away with the championship, again. The top teams, like Ferrari, McLaren and Williams, guzzle more than $200 million a year keeping their cars on the road. But sluggish economic growth has pummeled budgets as many advertisers tighten their belts. And falling television audiences have forced Formula One to re-write the rulebook to rely more on driver skill than computers. Over the last two years teams at the bottom of the grid, Prost and Arrows, have collapsed unable to pay for engines, tires, and the multi-million dollar wage packets of drivers. But now for the first time in the history of sport armchair fans can buy more than just the tee-shirt. They could if they choose opt to buy the driver. Justin Wilson, 24, has become a public limited company to pay for his $1.5 million drive at Minardi. In a 34-page glossy prospectus issued at the Australian Grand Prix investors can choose to invest a minimum of £500 ($800) in Justin Wilson Plc. "I think it's quite exciting. It's a new system,'' Wilson told Reuters. "It's taken a long time to set up so it's quite satisfying to have it finally revealed.'' But investors flicking through the prospects could not fail but to read page 14, headlined "Risk Factors," where the dangers of investing in the rookie are made clear. "Minardi may fail to complete the F1 season through lack of funds,'' it warned. But the team's owner Paul Stoddart said he was confident the team would survive despite just making it to the grid after signing and reassuring engine builder Cosworth that it had money to buy the engines.
Wilson, the 2001 Formula 3000 champion and by far the tallest grand prix driver at 1.90 meters, is in a team noticeably short on sponsors and needs to raise £1.2 million ($1.6 million). Should you choose to buy a stake in Wilson, you could get back double the money you put in, get tax free return, and an entitlement to 10 percent of his income to 2012. Justin Wilson Plc will pay the driver £50,000 this year, £75,000 next year and £100,000 in 2005. That is small change compared to the big boys at the tope of the grid; Michael Schumacher gets $60 million, Jacques Villeneuve is on $19 million, Ralf Schumacher garners $14 million and David Coulthard receives $8 million. Wilson is hoping to emulate Australian Mark Webber, who moved from Minardi in 2002 to race for Jaguar. Should Wilson have a successful first year he could move and earn anything from $1 million to $10 million dollars a year. Wilson's father Keith had underwritten the Minardi drive and Stoddart has said he will be watching Wilson's initiative with interest. "If it works for Justin I think you might see Minardi Plc in the not too distant future,'' he said. "I think there's a lot of worse investments that people could make in this uncertain market than investing in Formula One and in a driver.''
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