One of Michael Schumacher’s Formula 1 world championship winning Ferraris has just gone under the hammer in Switzerland for 14.63 million Swiss Francs, the equivalent of $NZ25.4 million.
RM Sotheby’s was responsible for the sale of the iconic Ferrari F2003 GA (chassis number 229) which earnt Schumacher his sixth-ever title, breaking Juan Manuel Fangio’s previous five world championship record.
The car features a naturally-aspirated 3.0-litre V10 capable of 685kW at 18,600rpm which makes the very noise that defines Formula 1.
By selling for $NZ25.4 million, the F2003 set a new record for the most expensive Schumacher car ever sold.
At the beginning of the 2003 season, the Ferrari team was still contesting an updated version of the previous year’s F2002 car. It wasn’t until four rounds in when the F2003 was used.
It made its race debut at the Spanish Grand Prix where Schumacher promptly put it on pole position and earnt its first win.
Throughout the season, the world champion and his F2003 wracked up five wins. That was enough to earn him his sixth of seven championships combined with the points earned in the F2002 earlier in the year.
Michael’s son Mick, who competes for Haas F1 Team, also got behind the wheel of the exact car earlier this year for a few laps around Ferrari’s Fiorano test track.
While we don’t know who was lucky enough to get their hands on such an iconic machine, it will certainly be a fine addition to their garage and hopefully seen out on track in the future.
Main image: RM Sotheby’s