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$80M Ferrari deal would make Vettel world's highest-paid sportsman

Formula One is in for a big shakeup next season, as the only two multiple World Champions on the grid are kicking off a game of musical chairs. Just who will end up where has yet to be figured out, but the overwhelmingly prevailing wisdom has Sebastian Vettel, who has already announced his departure from Red Bull, inking a contract with Ferrari worth 150 million pounds sterling for three years - that works out to over $80 million per year.
If the reports are true, that would make Vettel (pictured above with his assumed new teammate Kimi Raikkonen) the highest-salaried sportsman in the world. Compared to Vettel's rumored $80 million/year, soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo was paid $52 million last year and NFL quarterback Matt Ryan got $42 million, just ahead of soccer player Lionel Messi at $41.7 million. Boxer Floyd Mayweather was reportedly paid a whopping $100 million last year, but that's based on how many fights he fights and wins, putting him on a different earnings spectrum.
Those figures are also just for salaries, and do not include sponsorship and endorsement deals - and therein may lie part of the reason for Vettel's reportedly stratospheric salary. In addition to his salary from the Red Bull team with which he's won four World Championships, Vettel also pulls in a large retainer from Infiniti, which sponsors both the team and himself personally. In departing Red Bull, he'd undoubtedly have to sever the tie with Infiniti as well.

Ferrari patent suggests one-off SP FFX

You remember that batch of patent drawings we brought you a couple of weeks ago showing an unspecified Ferrari coupe? The interwebs were ablaze in speculation over what the car depicted could be, and we've been watching them all until we landed on the one that seems to make the most sense.
While some speculated that this could be a new California, updated to look more like the F12 and FF, our friends over at Jalopnik suggest, with sound reason, that what we're actually looking at is what we figured in the first place: that this is a one-off FF-based coupe being built for a private customer.
Perhaps the single biggest indicator doesn't lie in the drawings themselves, but the detail that everyone else seemed to have missed: at the same time as these drawings were submitted, Ferrari filed for another patent with the Italian government for the name SP FFX and the logo pictured above.

These are the top 10 highest-grossing auctions of Scottsdale 2015

Scottsdale always brings some pretty high-value metal across the auction block, but this year saw a particularly pricey array of classics trade hands. In fact, Hagerty reports that, with over $292 million in total sales from the various auction houses present, this past holiday weekend saw an 18 percent increase over last year – the second-highest year-to-year increase in Arizona automobile auction history. The Pratte Collection auction handled by Barrett-Jackson sold to the tune of $35.5 million, accounting for a large portion of overall sales, but even without that staggering array of classics, there was still an enviable array of machinery on the block this year. The highest-value lot not only of this year's event but of any year prior was the 1964 Ferrari 250 LM that RM Auctions sold for $9.6 million. And as you might have guessed, Ferraris accounted for the lion's share of the top ten results this year – including the first, second, third, fifth, seventh, eighth and both the lots that tied for tenth place on the list. In fact, three out of the top ten were Ferrari 275s. Coming in second place was the 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione that Bonhams sold for $9.4 million, which – like the 250 LM – was also raced by Scuderia Filipinetti. It was followed by a '59 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spyder sold by Gooding & Company for $7.7 million. Barrett-Jackson sold a '66 Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake for over $5M, Gooding handled a '62 Ferrari 400 Superamerica ($4M), and Barrett-Jackson's 1950 GM Futurliner brought in another $4M for charity. The remaining top ten was filled out by a '67 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 ($3.6M – RM), a '73 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spyder ($3.3M – RM), and a '54 Pontiac Bonneville Special Motorama concept ($3.3M – BJ), with a '66 Ferrari 275 GTB/2 Longnose and an '84 Ferrari 288 GTO tying for tenth place at $2.75M apiece by RM. Featured Gallery Top 10 at Scottsdale 2015 View 11 Photos News Source: Hagerty Ferrari Auctions Classics bonhams rm gooding hagerty