Seeing red: Schumacher’s Ferrari F2001 goes up for auction

Michael Schumacher’s championship-winning Ferrari F2001 F1 is due to go up for auction this November, through automotive specialists RM Sotheby’s.

This particular example, chassis number 211, competed during the 2001 season and took Schumacher to the last of his five Monaco Grand Prix victories.

He would later win his fourth of seven world championships at the Hungarian Grand Prix with 123 points – 58 points ahead of second place finisher David Coulthard.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Part of the car’s success was its slim coke-bottle-shaped bodywork and low-nose design, while Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone tailored its racing compound exclusively for Schumacher’s driving style.

It’s powered by a 3.0-litre naturally aspirated V10 engine that boasts a redline of 18,500rpm, which is around 6,000rpm more than the ultra-efficient hybrid motors of today’s F1 cars.

Ferrari will offer to store the car if the buyer wants to keep their piece of F1 history in pristine condition, says Evo.

The Italian carmaker will also “transport it to prearranged locations where a band of Ferrari mechanics, technicians and test drivers will be on hand” to help the driver experience the car at full power, the magazine says, if they want to take it out on a circuit.

It’s due to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s Contemporary Fine Art auction in New York on 16 November, with Auto Express expecting it to sell for around £3m.