European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Above Alain Prost Waits White his pit Crew prepares his Ferrari and grand prix Point Leader Ayrton Senna pilots a Mclaren Honda racer at Bockenheim West Germany. Below tires stacked up in the pit  Success amps photos by Michael Abrams by Randy Barnett motor sports editor it the formula one Quot grand prix circus Quot is the greatest motorized High Speed show on Earth. It s also the most expensive. Its Drivers Are the most highly paid anywhere the world championship encompasses 16 countries and the starting Grid of 26 cars at any Given race represents $45 million Worth of machinery. The Cost of a formula one racing car ranges from $1 million to $7 million and the Overall Cost of each round in the formula one world championship series ranges from $10 million to $20 million. Take the Cost of tires for instance Goodyear flew in 2,550  Eagle radials for the recent German grand prix at Bockenheim and the italian Pirelli company trucked in some 1,200. More than 6,000 people Are permanently employed in the formula one Quot grand prix circus Quot but the limelight Falls on Only 26 performers a the Drivers who Start in each race and from these 26, Only two rate As genuine superstars. One of the superstars is former world Champion Ayrton Senna of Brazil. He is the Leader in the 1990 formula one world driving championship standings. The other is Frenchman Alain Prost a three time world Champion who trails Senna in the title Chase by just four Points at this stage a just prior to this sunday s grand prix of Hungary the 10th round in the championship. Senna drives for the Mclaren Honda team Prost is the head Man at Ferrari. Senna s Honda v-10 puts out some 690 horsepower Prost has about 695 horsepower on tap from his 12-Cylinder Ferrari. England s Nigel Mansell also rates stardom status but at not quite the ethereal level Senna and Prost enjoy. Mansell who also drives for the italian Ferrari stable announced at the British grand prix last a month that he would retire at the end of the season though earnings Are never officially revealed it s fairly common knowledge within grand prix circles that Prost stands at the top with an annual income of about $10 million. Mansell makes about $7.5 million and Senna is at the same income  with Prost Mansell and Senna there Are five other Drivers in the million Dollar plus salary Quot club Quot the annual Levels ranging from $1.5 million to $6.5 million. The remaining Drivers either on their Way up or on their Way Down have annual salaries ranging from $150,000 to $850,000 a year. These salaries would have been unheard of even 10 years ago but increasing television coverage and commercial endorsements have made it All possible the same As in other sports around the world. While the Drivers command big Money they earn their paychecks a not Only from the risk standpoint but from the fact that the average Spectator attendance at grand prix races is about 100,000. More important from a commercial standpoint is the worldwide television audience. During the 1989 season it was pegged at 17.4 billion with the races telecast to 102 countries. These figures Are from the federation internationale de i automobile Fiat he world governing body of motor sports. With these staggeringly High viewer totals from around the world it s easy to see Why top level super Money sponsorship is easy to come by in formula one racing. With the july 29 running of the German up at Bockenheim a where the photographs on these pages were taken a the season passed the Midway Point with the key Battle for the title again involving Senna and Prost a just As in 1989 and 1988. Senna and Prost were both on the Mclaren Hond team in those seasons Senna winning the title in 1988 and Prost capturing his third championship in 1989 after a bitter Campaign that ended with the two Drivers not speaking to each other. At the end of the 1989 season Prost moved to Ferrari and this year it s a straight fight Between him and Senna. Now that they re in different cars it makes their Duel far More interesting. Prost has a decided Edge in experience having started his formula one career with the Mclaren team in 9b0. Senna s formula one career began in 1984 with the now defunct Toleman team. Prost France s first world driving Champion is tire most successful formula one Driver of All time with44 grand prix victories. Brazil s Senna has 24 career victories his most recent coming in last month s German event at Bockenheim. 1 hat was Senna s third straight German up win