I data I COLUMNS I features I LIFESTYLE

How I Spend It
Peter Sauber
Date of birth: 13 October 1943
Place of birth: Zurich
Home: Wilen (Switzerland)
Marital status: Married
Hobbies: Riding my bike, playing golf,
skiing, horse-riding
Peter Sauber has returned as an
F1 team principal after four years
in the background of the sport.
His motorsport career began back
in 1970 as a sportscar driver and
by the late 1980s he was one of the
leading personalities in endurance
racing. His success culminated in
a glorious one-two at Le Mans in
1989 and it was in the following
year that he made his name as a
talent spotter, when he signed a
young Michael Schumacher to
his Sauber Junior Team. He later
launched the F1 careers of drivers
including Felipe Massa and Kimi
Rikknen.
In 1993 Sauber entered F1
for the first time, finishing an
impressive fifth in its first race.
The highest point of the teams
career was a fourth place in the
2001 title chase, beating many
better funded teams. The results
certainly impressed BMW, which
bought a majority stake in the
team in 2006, keeping Peter
Sauber on in an advisory role.
The team that he had founded
went on to score a one-two at the
2008 Canadian Grand Prix, but
it sadly wasnt enough to keep
BMW in the sport as the recession
took hold. He bought back the
team in November 2009 and is
racing again under the Sauber
Motorsport banner in 2010.
92 I May 2010

Do you manage your own financial

affairs?
PS: I make the decisions, but I have
support from professionals.

What was your first salary?

Peter Sauber: 1,300 Swiss Francs
(approx. 900) as an electrician.
Do you have any credit cards?
PS: I have three.
Do you save or spend?
PS: Im by nature a saver, but there
are situations when you need to be
prepared to spend.
Have you ever been hard up?
PS: My livelihood was never in
immediate danger, but as a privateer
in motorsport you need to spend
your money carefully.
What is the best deal you have
ever signed?
PS: The deal with McLaren and
Mercedes for the early release
of Kimi Rikknen from his 4
year contract with our team was a
good deal.
Do you invest in shares?
PS: I had a gut feeling and sold
all my shares shortly before the
economic crises hit.
Do you believe pensions are a good
thing?
PS: Yes.
What have been your best and
worst investments?

PS: My best investment was the

one in the windtunnel. There was
not one specific investment which I
would call the worst.

"I sold all

my shares
shortly
before the
economic
crises"

What is your top financial

priority?
PS: For someone who made his
money by working and not just
investing, the top priority is safety.
How many holidays did you take
last year?
PS: Last year I was in semi
retirement therefore I had a lot of
spare time anyway.
Do you have a money weakness on
anything?
PS: No.
What is the most extravagant item
you have ever bought?
PS: Im not the type of person
who spends his money on
extravagant things.
Do you play the lottery and, if so,
what would you spend the jackpot
on if you won?
PS: I dont play the lottery neither
do I bet.
What is the best piece of financial
advice you have ever been given?
PS: All the good ideas I have came
up with myself.

I data I COLUMNS I features I LIFESTYLE

how i spend it
damon hill
THE LOWDOWN

damon hill
Date of birth: 17 September 1960
Place of birth: London
Home: Surrey, England
Marital status: Married
Hobbies: Guitar playing, motorcycling

What was your first salary?

Damon Hill: Whats that?
Do you have any credit cards?
DH: One.
Do you save or spend?
DH: Saver.
Have you ever been hard up?
DH: Oh yes. But I always have
worked hard to get my own money.
What is the best deal you have
ever signed?
DH: To drive for Williams.
Do you invest in shares?
DH: Not willingly.
Do you believe pensions are a
good thing?
DH: As long as you get a chance to
spend all you have saved.
What has been your best and
worst investments?
DH: Property; best. Racing
drivers; worst.
Do you manage your own
financial affairs?
DH: If you can call it that,
yes.
90 I JUly 2010

What is your top financial

priority?
DH: To get through reasonably
comfortably.
How many holidays did you take
last year?
DH: Its difficult to tell. I do not
have a regular job in the first place.
Do you have a money weakness
on anything?
DH: No. I remain as strong as ever.
What is the most extravagant
item you have ever bought?
DH: A Lear 31A. It was also the
highest and the fastest...and the
most costly. Good fun though.
Once in a lifetime thing.

Above: Hill's title

winner; Below: Damon
and son Josh

Do you play the lottery and, if

so, what would you spend the
jackpot on if you won?
DH: I dont but if I did and I won
I would spread it around various
charities like the Halow Project,
Disability Challengers and the
Downs Syndrome Society.
What is the best piece of
financial advice you have ever
been given?
DH: Annual income twenty
pounds, annual expenditure
nineteen pounds, nineteen
shillings and sixpence, result
happiness. Annual income twenty
pounds, annual expenditure
twenty pounds and sixpence,
result misery.