How to buy a third of a Formula One driver

Dan Wells is convinced he has what it takes to make it as a Formula One driver - and he is inviting Asian investors to come along for the ride. When the sponsorship to continue the 22-year-old Briton's career in Europe dried up, he headed east and started drumming up the cash to continue racing. Now he is back in Asia, hoping to raise US$4.75 million from investors, funds that will put him on the grid in Japan for a year of Formula Three and two years of the new Super Formula, the stepping stones to Formula One. Not only are investors being offered the chance to buy into one of the most glamorous and global of sports, the returns can be impressive, if all goes to plan. The very top grand prix drivers are among the world's highest paid sportsmen, with stars like Lewis Hamilton on a reported US$30 million-a-year deal with Mercedes. Wells is inviting investors to buy 35 per cent of the shares in Dan Wells and Investors. The investors will then "own" 35 per cent of the driver and are entitled to 35 per cent of the revenues earned by him from his basic salary, bonuses and any income from personal marketing endorsements. Investors essentially get a cut on anything Wells earns. His chief financial officer, ex-banker Kingston Lai, explains: "This is not a fund, but a private limited company. There will be a lock-up period and realistically, the returns will start in five years. This is a dividend play." The other shareholders comprise Wells' family and management team, which includes Formula One veteran Ian Phillips, the chairman of the new company. The former journalist, team manager and commercial guru has worked with numerous drivers, including Eddie Irvine, who forged a lucrative career in Japan before a long Formula One career. Phillips brokered the grand prix debut of Michael Schumacher, negotiating to bring Schumacher out of the sportscar circuit and into the Jordan Formula One team, in 1991. Phillips is convinced of Wells' potential after an intense evaluation. "The guy is at a level you only find every three or four years," he says. "In a modern commercial world, just driving the car isn't enough; you have to be the complete package." That means handling the gruelling rounds of promotional work that sponsors and investors now expect from any top sports star. Wells believes he has the patter to deliver, after coming to Hong Kong and hustling the funds to get his career back on track. Having only started racing at 18, he is a relative latecomer to the sport, compared with the Vettels, Hamiltons and Buttons who were racing go-karts as kids. But having felt the need for speed when studying politics and economics at university, he achieved success in the junior ranks of British motorsport before the money ran out. Wells came to Hong Kong to raise sponsorship money - he was selling advertising space on his car, and personal appearances at Hong Kong promotional events. Wells managed to raise HK$1.3 million, a paltry sum in motorsport terms, but enough to get a ride in the Formula Pilota series, one of Asia's main junior single-seater championships. With the budget only allowing for minimal practice and testing, he won three races and scored nine podiums en route to second place in the championship, behind a much better-funded rival. Lai says the real potential for returns from shareholders lies in sponsorship income which, if the wins start coming, could be stratospheric. Phillips sees Japan as a re-emerging market with the country's main carmakers returning to Formula One. For example, Honda recently announced its return as engine supplier to Formula One team McLaren in 2015. In between the glitz and glamour and Wells' determination to succeed, industry specialists sound a note of caution. Hundreds of young hopefuls aspire to make it onto the starting grid every year, but with only 22 drives available in Formula One, the success rate is low. Tim Huxley, whose GR Asia team has worked with many young drivers in their early careers, including current Mercedes Formula One reserve driver Sam Bird and Le Mans 24 hour race class winner Danny Watts, says: "It's a brutal sport and driving talent alone is rarely enough. Probably no more than half of the current crop of Formula One drivers are actually getting paid - the rest have to bring money to the teams, which in the case of a lesser F1 team, will be at least US$6 million a year. Huxley says private funding is critical to new drivers on their way up through the sport. "Ideally, you need to secure a patron who will support you all the way through - Sebastian Vettel has been nurtured by Red Bull since he was 11, while Lewis Hamilton was supported by McLaren all the way to the world title from the age of 12," he says. So it is a case of buyer beware: it may appeal to all the wealthy boy racers out there, but this is an investment which might have more vroom than boom.

How to buy a third of a Formula One driver

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The odds may be daunting but grand prix aspirant Dan Wells offers a stake in his quest for the top

The odds may be daunting but grand prix aspirant Dan Wells offers a stake in his quest for the top