World championship leader Lewis Hamilton has been named as the world's most marketable athlete.

Already cited as Britain's wealthiest athlete in the latest edition of the Sunday Times Rich List, the Mercedes driver is named as the world's most marketable athlete by SportsPro magazine.

Using a system called the Davie-Brown Index (DBI), which measures consumer perception of athletes, the fifth edition of SportsPro's rankings sees Hamilton beat off cricketer Virat Kohli (us neither), American footballer Robert Griffin III (again), Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and tennis star Grigor Dimitrov.

Rather than focussing on how successfully athletes are marketed, SportsPro focusses on how they might succeed over the next three years, which possibly explains why rookie Daniil Kvyat makes it to 40th on the list and Fernando Alonso doesn't get a mention.

To further add to the scepticism, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, currently third in the world championship, is twenty-seventh in the rankings whilst Sauber's affiliate driver Simona de Silvestro is 50th, though this is explained away by looking at the Swiss youngster’s marketing potential should she get a full-time F1 drive.

Concluding that Hamilton is on his way to his second title, SportsPro says: "It seems remarkable that the Englishman, at 29, has waited this long to realise that ambition but it is in Formula One’s interests that he does. There is no more exhilarating sight in the sport than Hamilton in a fast car.

"For sponsors, the package is already in place – the maturing star, the celebrity girlfriend, the seven-figure social media following and the expert management of XIX Entertainment. After a decade endorsing brands this resurgent champion is worth another look. He might just be the best bet in all of sport."

Chris Balfe