And it’s not just the drivers and riders who are the focus, but also the individual teams who seek to finish at the top of the pile and secure the all important financial reward that comes with success.

But what of the competitors who risk their lives constantly as they chase the ultimate prize?

It may come as a surprise that the highest earning F1 driver this year was four-time world Champion Sebastian Vettel.

He is on a three-year contract (2015-17) with Ferrari at $50 million dollars a year excluding bonuses.

Much was expected of the German racer when he joined the Scuderia last year and there were promising signs when he scored three wins and another 10 podiums to finish third in the championship.

However, his form did not carry over to this year.

No wins and only seven podiums in 2016 was hardly the result expected and no doubt there are many who feel he was grossly overpaid, but it has to be said the team have failed to help his results by providing a very lacklustre car.

The next highest paid is two-time champion Fernando Alonso on a yearly contract of $40 million plus bonuses from the struggling McLaren Honda team, who no doubt will be hoping the highly-regarded Spaniard will deliver in the new specification car in 2017.

In forty GP starts since joining the British team he has only finished in the top 10 on 11 occasions with a best result of fifth – mainly because of a down on power engine than anything else.

There are a couple of other surprises with three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton on a guaranteed $31 million an annum plus up to $10 million in bonuses from Mercedes Benz.

Hamilton’s retiring teammate Nico Rosberg was paid almost a third less at $15.5 Million.

In terms of value for money, Mercedes Benz are way out in front with Hamilton winning 31 races from 59 starts in the past three seasons.

But there is no doubt the British driver will be holding out for a sizable increase when his contract comes up for renewal at the end of 2018. Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo was paid $6.5 million in 2016 by Red Bull Racing and there is no question the highly-talented driver’s salary will increase for next year.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was on $5 million last season, while Haas driver Romain Grosjean and Williams driver Felippe Massa both earned $4.5 million.

At the lower end of the scale are Sauber drivers Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson who took home $450,000.

The Manor team drivers salaries are unknown.

As far as Moto GP is concerned the salary range is much different to their four-wheeled counterparts with the top amount of $10 million paid to Yamaha rider and seven-time Moto GP world champion Valentino Rossi.

It’s a surprisingly low amount considering Rossi has started in a total of 288 Moto GP races for 88 wins and an amazing 185 podiums.

Also earning $10 million this year was three-time Moto GP champion Marc Marquez, who rides for the works Honda team and proved his worth by winning the championship.

Marquez has had 72 Moto GP starts for 29 wins and a total of 51 podiums, and at just 23 years of age he has a long career ahead of him.

Triple world champion Jorge Lorenzo earned $6.5 million with Yamaha and is set to earn more follwoing his switch to Ducati for 2017.

After the top three there is a big drop down in the salary range with Dani Pedrosa paid $2.5 million by Honda and Ducati rider Andrea Doviziosa receiving $1 million.

Monster Yamaha rider Bradley Smith earned $1 million for his efforts this year while his team mate Pol Espargaro earned $850,000, which was the same as Ducati rider Andrea Iannone.

LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow earned $700,000 this year but with two wins to his credit should be rewarded with a sizable increase in 2017.

One of the lowest paid riders this year has been 2013 Moto 3 World Champion Maverick Vinales.

Despite delivering Suzuki their first win since Australia’s Chris Vermulen in 2007 he was on a base salary of $300,000.

The 21-year-old will move to the works Yamaha team in 2017 alongside Rossi and no doubt be in for a significant cash injection as one of the brightest stars to join Moto GP since Marquez.

The lowest paid rider this year was Australia’s Jack Miller who earned just $250,000, but with a win in the wet at the Dutch GP, he may have got a nice bonus from the Marc VDS Honda team.