Sure Schumacher was all set to retire despite titleFernando Alonso has in 2007 become the third highest earner in the world of sport, according to reports.
The daily sports newspaper El Mundo Deportivo said the 25-year-old tripled his pay packet by switching from
Renault to McLaren Mercedes, and attracted an additional $13m in private sponsorship after winning a successive drivers' championship last season.
Alonso will earn at least (US) $43 million this year, the newspaper said, which ranks him behind sport's top active earners Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, golfers who respectively make $90m and $47m every year.
El Mundo Deportivo claims that Alonso made less than $10 million at Renault in 2006.
Meanwhile, the defending champion has baulked at claims that his pace convinced
Michael Schumacher to quit F1.
Schumacher admitted several times in recent years that he would hang up his helmet when a clearly faster and younger rival comes along. Alonso won the championships in 2005 and 2006.
The Spaniard told Focus in an interview: "Michael stopped because different things motivate him now - such as his family. Anyway, he probably had already decided to retire before the start of the (2006) season."
Source GMM
