Attention all Formula 1 and Michael Schumacher fans! Another one of the championship-winning F1 cars driven by the legendary German racer is up for grabs, giving car collectors a unique opportunity to own a piece of racing history. The car in question is the Ferrari F1-2000 chassis 198 that will be auctioned off by RM Sotheby’s during a sealed auction held from April 3-12. While it was originally used by the Ferrari team as a spare car, Schumacher drove it during qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix in the 2000 season, earning him a third spot on the grid. Schumacher managed to win that race, which established his dominant position in that season.
The chassis 198 also earned Schumacher a pole position and fifth-place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix. Schumacher also managed to grab the pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix driving the same car. However, the race ended in a DNF for the racing legend after the car suffered a broken pushrod. The car made its final competitive appearance at the A1-Ring in Austria when Schumacher qualified in third. During the 17-race season in 2000, Michael Schumacher secured nine pole positions and nine victories, earning him the Drivers’ Championship, while Ferrari claimed the Constructors Championship.
“RM Sotheby’s has demonstrated that it has an unrivaled track record in bringing the most important Formula 1 cars to auction; a track record which is most closely associated with selling important Ferraris driven by Michael Schumacher, the greatest Ferrari F1 driver of all time,” global head of Private Sales at RM Sotheby’s, Shelby Myers said. “2022 saw us sell the famed F2003-GA chassis no. 229, at Sotheby’s Luxury Week sale in Geneva for CHF 14,630,000, making it the most valuable Formula 1 car of the modern era ever sold. The previous record was held by another ex-Michael Schumacher Ferrari, an F2001 which sold for $7,504,000 at Sotheby’s evening contemporary art sale in New York on 16 November 2017.”
The chassis 198 was rebuilt by the factory and put on display in Geneva by Ferrari in 2001 before selling it to renowned collector Kevin Crowder. The F1 car was later sold to its current owner in 2016 who has used it in a number of Ferrari’s Corse Clienti track days. The race car is powered by a 90-degree V-10 engine that is capable of producing 780 horsepower. The engine is mated to a seven-speed gearbox. Prior to the sale, the car will be on display in Hong Kong from April 1 to 6.
