Formula 1 and Monaco go together like caviar and crème fraiche, with the world’s rich and famous gathering on the French Riviera for the most expensive motorsport in the world. The Monaco F1 GP is one of the oldest venues on the calendar, and the city is known for attracting high-net-worth individuals in droves. One needs to pull off something special to stand out in this crowd. Social media management mogul Tom Claerens seems to have done just that, yet again, as a priceless moving advertisement for crypto broker Libertex. Following up on placing a Ferrari F40 and a Bugatti Chiron on a yacht, the genius of placing a track-only McLaren Solus GT on a super yacht to go watch some motor racing can’t be ignored.
For one, this is far from a low-stakes operation. Only 25 examples of the McLaren Solus GT exist, and they’ve all been sold out, each wearing a price tag of over $4 million. This particular car wears a livery inspired by Ayrton Senna’s iconic red-and-white McLaren MP4/4 F1 car. It’s said to match the owner’s McLaren P1 GTR in the same livery, to celebrate Senna’s first championship win. Obviously then, the unidentified owner is a man of fine taste, and to call him a bit of a motorsport fan would be an understatement. The Solus GT, on the other hand, is anything but an understatement. The track-only hypercar is powered by a 5.2-liter V10 with 840 horsepower and a redline of 10,000 rpm!
We then move on to the Sarasota, a 197-foot super yacht launched as Mondomarine’s flagship creation. The helipad upon which the McLaren is placed is built of teak, while the owner’s suite is covered in crushed velvet. Because nothing says excess like purple velvet on the ceiling. For context, the Sarastar is said to be owned by Turkish shipping entrepreneur Robert Yuksel Yildirim, whose net worth is over $3 billion.
At the Monaco Grand Prix, spectators will witness F1 cars racing down the principality’s streets at breakneck speeds. Simultaneously, they’ll have a view of a stationary supercar, decorating a super yacht. The floating McLaren hood ornament will undoubtedly become the talk of Monaco. Proving once again that in the world of billionaires, restraint is the only luxury money truly can’t buy.
