F1 world champ second on Sports Illustrated rich list

It’s no surprise that David “Becks” Beckham ranks as the best-paid non-American sportsman in the world. According to Sports Illustrated, he earns $48.2m a year, and all for frowning a lot (Becks doesn’t pout, he frowns), plus taking the occasional free-kick. Nice work if you can get it.

However, it’s more of a surprise that Kimi Raikkonen comes in as high as second on SI’s recently published rich list. Ferrari’s driver of choice is only just behind Beckham, on a whopping $46m. That puts the Finn ahead of the likes of Roger Federer, Ronaldinho and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Raikkonen wasn’t even ranked in the Top 20 in 2007, so it shows how much becoming world champion has done for his bank balance. No wonder he can afford to splash out on a new 70ft yacht.

Not such good news for Fernando Alonso though - the Spaniard drops from first to sixth, and now has to make do with a meagre $35m per annum.

Lewis Hamilton ($27.6m) is 11th on the list, but you can bet he’ll be in the top ten in 2009.

[Via The Spoiler]