- Title: Quick sale? Ex-Hamilton F1 McLaren could fetch $7 million
- Date: 18th May 2021
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (MAY 18, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MCLAREN MP4-25A IN EXHIBITION ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) REPRESENTATIVE, SOTHEBY'S AUCTION HOUSE, FELIX ARCHER, SAYING: "We are standing with the McLaren MP4-25A, a chassis number one, which was driven by two world champions, Jenson Button and I suppose more iconically Lewis Hamilton, the currently seven time world champion and the man that is likely to leave Formula One, having broken every record under the sun. One of the amazing things about this car is it's done nine races finishing every single one with both Hamilton and Button driving it. And Lewis Hamilton, who had won in 2008, was driving for the first four races and Jenson Button, who had won in 2009, the year before this call came into this campaign, was driving the remainder of the races. The car had three podiums, a second in China with the fastest third in Abu Dhabi with Button and most iconically, one Turkish company in 2010, which is infamous because it was the race that Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber took each other out and then Hamilton and Button had their dice for victory." VARIOUS OF MCLAREN MP4-25A (SOUNDBITE) (English) REPRESENTATIVE, SOTHEBY'S AUCTION HOUSE, FELIX ARCHER, SAYING: "It's an amazing opportunity this car because Lewis Hamilton, who has smashed every single record under the sun, who's building such an incredible legacy, it's a chance to own a piece of his journey. Lewis Hamilton is not just a driver, he's an entire brand with his amazing activism and his amazing talent and his striving for diversity and driving these cars so consistently and consistently winning every time. It's it's an amazing opportunity to have a piece of his story." INSTRUMENT PANEL ON THE MCLAREN MP4-25A DRIVER COMPARTMENT VARIOUS OF MCLAREN MP4-25A (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, MPA, IAN BORIS, SAYING: "It will be for the first time ever we're going to sell the live while it circulates Silverstone track, which is the first time it's ever been done. The plan is that we will be setting up the auction with the live auctioneer that will be in the Paddock Club along with online bidding." VARIOUS OF MCLAREN MP4-25A IN EXHIBITION ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, MPA, IAN BORIS, SAYING: "I mean, certainly it's unusual to have two world champion team mates, so to that respect, to have both Jenson 2009 and now Lewis multiple world champion driving the same chassis is unusual and I think that probably adds to the mystique and the value of the car itself." VARIOUS OF MCLAREN MP4-25A IN EXHIBITION ROOM
- Embargoed: 1st June 2021 14:10
- Keywords: Formula One Lewis Hamilton McLaren auction
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM AND VARIOUS
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM AND VARIOUS
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Europe,Motor Racing,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001EDHNOE7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A race-winning Formula One McLaren driven by Lewis Hamilton in 2010 will be put up for auction at the British Grand Prix in July as it does laps of the Silverstone circuit.
The Mercedes-powered MP4-25A will carry a price estimate of $5-7 million.
Seven-times world champion Hamilton, now at Mercedes, is Formula One's most successful driver of all time with a record 100 pole positions and 98 wins.
The 36-year-old Briton can add to that tally in Monaco this weekend.
"It's an amazing opportunity to have a piece of his story," Felix Archer, a car specialist for auctioneers and Formula One partners RM Sotheby's, told Reuters at a viewing on Tuesday (May 18).
The car, being sold by an unnamed private collector but not Hamilton or McLaren, won the Turkish Grand Prix after the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel collided while leading one-two.
Hamilton drove it in four races that year, 2009 world champion team mate Jenson Button in five and it achieved three podium finishes and a fastest lap.
McLaren Heritage will run the car for the buyer, with around eight people and several days' preparation needed to operate it. The original Bridgestone tyres have been replaced with Avon rubber.
Archer said the valuation put it in the realms of cars driven by Germany's seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher and the late Brazilian Ayrton Senna.
A 2002 Ferrari F1 car raced by Schumacher was sold for $6.65 million in Abu Dhabi in 2019.
The driver has yet to be named but it will not be anyone from within the F1 paddock due to COVID-19 precautions requiring them to operate in a 'bubble'.
(Production: Ben Makori) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
