A Formula 1 Ferrari driven by legendary German driver Michael Schumacher in 2003 and in perfect working order was sold on Wednesday for the record sum of 14.63 million Swiss francs (20.10 million Canadian dollars) during a sale of the Sotheby’s house in Geneva.
“Formula 1 cars of this quality and provenance rarely come to market, and this car in particular is the best of the best,” enthused Augustin Sabatié-Garat, the company’s sales director.
The F2003-GA Chassis 229 with which Michael Schumacher won numerous races in the 2003 season recorded “a record price for a Formula 1 of the modern era”, said the Sotheby’s auctioneer, knocking down his hammer after a final offer of 13 million Swiss francs (14.63 million with costs).
This is almost double the record of 7.5 million dollars held by another Ferrari car also driven by the German champion, during the 2001 Formula 1 season and already sold by Sotheby’s in 2017 in New York.
This Wednesday’s exceptional lot was estimated at between 7.5 and 9.5 million Swiss francs, but after a hectic auction, it was a buyer who raised the price by 500,000 francs all at once who won the car. .
The identity of the new owner is not known but the auction house indicated that he was from Europe.
“It is one of the Ferraris with the most victories in the history of the brand, so it is a very important car in the history of the automobile”, explained to AFPTV Vincent Luzuy, from the branch dealing with luxury car sales at Sotheby’s, during the presentation of the car to journalists
Ready to drive
The car is in perfect working order. It was fully serviced in 2022 by Ferrari Formula 1 Clienti and is ready to drive, Sotheby’s said.
It was given a serious run by Michael Schumacher’s son, Mick, at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track before the sale. Mick Schumacher is racing in Formula 1 with the Haas team this season.
It was at the wheel of this Ferrari, introduced at the 2003 Spanish Grand Prix, that Schumacher won five victories that season, in Spain for its first outing and then in Austria, Canada, Italy and the United States. .
She also claimed three pole positions and three fastest laps in the race and two podiums in Monaco and France, allowing Schumacher to win a sixth world championship title, erasing the record he then held with the Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio, while offering Ferrari its fifth consecutive constructors’ world championship title, says Sotheby’s.
Michael Schumacher, who will win another seventh world champion title in 2004, has not been seen in public since a terrible skiing accident in December 2013 in France.