Hamilton's Grand Prix-Winning F1 Car Nearly Sets Auction Record

It sold for over $6 million.

The Formula 1 car Lewis Hamilton piloted to victory at the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix sold this weekend for a near record-setting amount. RM held the live auction during the 2021 British Grand Prix, Hamilton’s home track, in front of approximately 140,000 race fans, and sold the McLaren MP4-25A for £4,836,000 ($6.6 million at current exchange rates). The car’s selling price met RM’s expectations of $5-$7 million.

Hamilton’s McLaren is the second most expensive F1 car ever sold at auction, trailing Michael Schumacher’s 2001 Ferrari F2001 that sold for £5,449,607.43 ($7.5 million) in 2017 at another RM event. This is the first F1 car piloted by Hamilton to head to auction, and its high selling price could indicate that there’s a market for Hamilton’s cars that could one day set a new record that could exceed Schumacher’s.

Gallery: Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren MP4-25A








“Sir Lewis Hamilton’s achievements in the sport are so remarkable that they may never be bettered, and so cars with which he is associated are likely to be the most coveted in the decades to come,” said Shelby Myers, RM Sotheby’s car specialist and global head of private sales.

Race fans not only got to witness the auction, but they also got to witness the McLaren perform demonstration laps around Silverstone Circuit. The car was prepped by McLaren Racing’s Heritage team with McLaren and Mercedes techs on hand for full support. McLaren test driver Rob Garofall piloted the racer, letting the crowd listen to the car’s 2.4-liter Mercedes-Benz FO 108X V8, which must have been quite the treat to hear alongside the V6s teams use today.

The car has a history beyond Hamilton’s 2010 Turkish Grand Prix history. The car was instrumental in helping the team take second in the Constructor Standings while also helping Hamilton take second place in the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix. The racer also took Jensen Button to a third-place finish in the 2010 season’s final race.

Source:

RM Sotheby’s

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