Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 16-19, 2023
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Ferrari’s F2001 was a dominant car in Formula One. Michael Schumacher won eight races in an F2001, securing the driver’s and constructor’s titles. For the start of the 2002 season, Ferrari tweaked the prior year’s chassis and dubbed it the F2001B. This car was used by Schumacher for the first two races of the 2002 season and the first three for teammate Rubens Barichello.
This chassis, #215, was a success right out of the gate. It’s competition history consists of:
2002 Australian Grand Prix – 1st (with Schumacher)
2002 Malaysian Grand Prix – 3rd (with Schumacher, from pole)
Schumacher won the title again in 2002, using the F2002 for the rest of the season. They used 3.0-liter screaming V10s during this era. This car is one of likely two built, and it’s a race winner to boot. You can read more about it here.
Offered by Bonhams | Brussels, Belgium | May 13, 2023
Photo – Bonhams
Ken Tyrrell’s Formula One racing team had been around since the 1960s and entered the 1990s already struggling. The 1971 constructor’s champion was a far cry from the peak. Their 020 chassis was designed by Harvey Postlethwaite and George Ryton and debuted for the 1991 season.
For that year, the car had a Honda V10 powerplant. For 1992, they upgraded the 020 (including this chassis, 020-6), to 020B spec, which meant that it now used 3.5-liter Ilmor V10 that made 680 horsepower. The competition history for this car includes:
1991 Canadian Grand Prix – 10th (with Satoru Nakajima)
1991 Mexican Grand Prix – 12th (with Nakajima)
1991 French Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF (with Nakajima)
1991 British Grand Prix – 8th (with Nakajima)
1991 German Grand Prix – 18th, DNF (with Nakajima)
1991 Hungarian Grand Prix – 15th (with Nakajima)
1991 Belgian Grand Prix – 23rd, DNF (with Nakajima)
1991 Italian Grand Prix – 19th, DNF (with Stefano Modena)
1991 Portuguese Grand Prix – 18th, DNF (with Modena)
1991 Spanish Grand Prix – 16th (with Modena)
1991 Japanese Grand Prix – 16th, DNF (with Nakajima)
1991 Australian Grand Prix – 26th, DNF (with Nakajima)
For 1992, it was used as a spare car for seven races. It later entered private ownership – sans V10 – and is offered as a roller out its current collection, where it’s been since 2003. The estimate is $55,000-$77,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | Brussels, Belgium | May 13, 2023
Photo – Bonhams
Imagine Max Verstappen, or Sebastian Vettel, or Michael Schumacher, three years out from an F1 world championship arriving on the grid with a team of their own. It would be insane. But it’s exactly what Emerson (and brother Wilson) Fittipaldi did in 1975.
Emerson Fittipaldi won the F1 driver’s championship for Lotus in 1972, and Wilson drove for Brabham for ’72 and ’73. They started working on Fittipaldi Automotive in 1974. The team appeared on the grid in 1975 with Wilson driving the only car (and Arturo Merzario running in one race). Emerson would be the team’s main driver from 1976-1980, and the team’s final season was 1982.
The F6 was used for the latter part of the 1979 season (and, strangely, one race toward the beginning of the year). Two chassis were built, with Emerson driving one of them in seven races and Alex Ribeiro failing to qualify for three races in the other. The engine at the time was a Ford-Cosworth DFV 3.0-liter V8.
This chassis is lacking all running gear and is set up as a static show car. Apparently it doesn’t even really roll, and the suspension is listed as “not correct.” Still, it’s an interesting part of F1’s small history of “owner/drivers.” It has an estimate of $55,000-$75,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | Goodwood, U.K. | April 16, 2023
Photo – Bonhams
Spyker F1 bought out the Midland F1 team late in the 2006 Formula One season. This was a big leap for what was already a struggling boutique road car manufacturer. 2007 would be the team’s only full year running under the Spyker name.
Late in the 2007 season, Vijay Mallya stepped in to buy the financially doomed team, and it would be renamed Force India for 2008. Spyker raced their Ferrari-powered F8-VII (and VIIB) for the season with drivers Adrian Sutil (who scored Spyker’s only championship point) and Christijan Albers. Albers was let go halfway through the year and was replaced by Markus Winkelhock (for one race) and Sakon Yamamoto for the rest.
Force India’s first F1 entry was the VJM01, which was just an updated version of the previous year’s Spyker chassis. So they literally just updated the existing cars and reused them for the season. This particular chassis, VJM01-04, was a Spyker in 2007 and a Force India in 2008. It’s competition history includes:
2007 French Grand Prix – 17th (with Adrian Sutil)
2007 British Grand Prix – 15th (with Christijan Albers)
2007 European Grand Prix – 17th, DNF (with Markus Winkelhock)
2007 Hungarian Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF (with Sakon Yamamoto)
2007 Italian Grand Prix – 20th (with Yamamoto)
2007 Belgian Grand Prix – 17th (with Yamamoto)
2007 Japanese Grand Prix – 12th (with Yamamoto)
2007 Chinese Grand Prix – 17th (with Yamamoto)
2007 Brazilian Grand Prix – 21st, DNF (with Yamamoto)
2008 Monaco Grand Prix – 18th, DNF (with Giancarlo Fisichella)
2008 Canadian Grand Prix – 14th, DNF (with Fisichella)
The highlight there is the 2007 European Grand Prix, one that featured a monsoon that saw a large number of the field end up in the gravel right after the start. Winkelhock pitted for wet tires at the end of the formation lap, a move that led to him leading the race when all hell broke loose. Then it was red-flagged and he lost his advantage, eventually retiring with electrical issues, probably because of the rain. It was Winkelhock’s only F1 start.
In period, this car would’ve had a 2.4-liter Ferrari V8 making about 750 horsepower (for both seasons). Now it’s just a roller with a $100,000-$125,000 estimate. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | April 16, 2023
Photo – Bonhams
Footwork was the name the Arrows team competed under in Formula One from 1991 through 1996. The name is actually that of their largest investor/sponsor, Footwork Express, a Japanese logistics company.
1993 was the second of two seasons that the team sourced their 3.5-liter V10 engines from Honda, which were branded as Mugen-Honda. Output was likely around 720 horsepower. This chassis, FA14-04, retains its engine, but that engine is lacking internals. So it’s essentially a roller.
The competition history for this one includes:
1993 Spanish Grand Prix – 10th (with Aguri Suzuki)
1993 Canadian Grand Prix – 13th (with Suzuki)
1993 French Grand Prix – 12th (with Suzuki)
1993 British Grand Prix – 23rd, DNF (with Suzuki)
1993 German Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF (with Suzuki)
1993 Hungarian Grand Prix – 16th, DNF (with Suzuki)
1993 Belgian Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF (with Suzuki)
1993 Italian Grand Prix – 22nd, DNF (with Suzuki)
1993 Portuguese Grand Prix – 23rd, DNF (with Suzuki)
1993 Japanese Grand Prix – 17th, DNF (with Suzuki)
1993 Australian Grand Prix – 7th (with Suzuki)
So, no points for this car, and quite a string of bad luck. I kind of love relatively livery-less F1 cars from this era. They look so plain as to be almost homebuilt. But even a mid-pack car like this was highly sophisticated in its day. The estimate now is $145,000-$190,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 2, 2023
Photo – Bonhams
The Force India Formula One team had some pretty major financial and legal issues surrounding its owner Vijay Mallya and went bankrupt in 2018. The assets of the team (which could be traced back to Jordan Grand Prix) were bought by a group led by Lawrence Stroll. Racing Point would compete in F1 for two seasons: 2019 and 2020 before being re-branded as Aston Martin.
The RP19 was the team’s first car and competed in the 2019 season, during which the team employed drivers Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez. For power, the RP19 used a Mercedes powerplant, specifically the turbocharged 1.6-liter V6 and a KERS system. This chassis has had its relatively modern engine removed.
The competition history for this chassis, #RP19-03, includes:
2019 Monaco Grand Prix – 12th (with Sergio Perez)
2019 Canadian Grand Prix – 12th (with Perez)
2019 French Grand Prix – 12th (with Perez)
2019 Austrian Grand Prix – 11th (with Perez)
2019 British Grand Prix – 17th (with Perez)
2019 Russian Grand Prix – 7th (with Perez)
2019 Japanese Grand Prix – 8th (with Perez)
2019 Mexican Grand Prix – 7th (with Perez)
2019 United States Grand Prix – 10th (with Perez)
2019 Brazilian Grand Prix – 9th (with Perez)
2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – 7th (with Perez)
That’s a fair bit of points-scoring finishes for this chassis, which is about as new of an F1 car chassis as you’re likely going to be able to find on the open market. It’s coming directly from The Aston Martin F1 team, who has been slowly selling off cars with Bonhams over the last few years. Engineless, it is expected to fetch $120,000-$150,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 3-4, 2023
Photo – Artcurial
Benetton’s first year in Formula One was 1986, and their last was 2001 before they became the Renault factory team. The team’s first year using Renault power was 1995, in which they campaigned the Rory Byrne/Ross Brawn-designed B195.
The car featured a 3.0-liter Renault V10 capable of up to 700 horsepower. This one now has a 3.5-liter Judd V10 in it. Drivers Michael Schumacher (in his last season before departing for Ferrari) and Johnny Herbert ran for the team, which won its first and only constructors championship this season. Schumacher also won his second title this season, with some of it spent behind this chassis (#02).
The catalog states that Schumacher won races in this chassis but doesn’t specifically state which ones. Oh well!. The Judd engine was installed prior to the current owner’s purchase, and it’s been gone over apparently. Artcurial estimates this car to sell in the range of $2,165,000-$3,250,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 2, 2023
Photo – Bonhams
Eddie Jordan’s Jordan Grand Prix competed in F1 between 1991 and 2005. This car is from their debut season, which saw drivers Bertrand Gachot and Andrea de Cesaris start the season. Roberto Moreno, Alex Zanardi, and a very young newcomer called Michael Schumacher also ran races for the team in place of Gachot.
Power is provided by a 3.5-liter Ford V8 that made about 650 horsepower. This particular chassis, #6, has the following competition history:
1991 Hungarian Grand Prix – 7th (with Andrea de Cesaris)
1991 Belgian Grand Prix – 13th, DNF (with de Cesaris)
It was used as a spare at Italy, Portugal, Spain, Japan, and Australia as well. Schumacher used this car at Spa during free practice one before it was raced by de Cesaris. That makes this the first F1 car ever driven by Schumacher during an F1 weekend. It’s had a few private owners since, and was used on F1 TV race coverage at Silverstone in 2021 when Mick Schumacher did some demonstration laps with it. It’ now has an estimate of $1,500,000-$2,150,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 1, 2023
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
The 643 was a mid-season replacement during Ferrari’s 1991 Formula One campaign. It debuted for drivers Alain Prost and Jean Alesi at the 1991 French Grand Prix, where Prost ended up on the podium.
The car is powered by a 3.5-liter V12 capable of 710 horsepower. This chassis, #127, has the following competition history:
1991 French Grand Prix – 4th (with Jean Alesi)
1991 British Grand Prix – 17th, DNF (with Alesi)
1991 Australian Grand Prix – 6th (with Gianni Morbidelli)
It was also a test car for the team at various tracks throughout the season. It was later refreshed by Ferrari before going to a South African collection. From there, it was restored under German ownership in 2016 and is now being offered by RM in Europe. Click here for more info.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Munich, Germany | November 26, 2022
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Adrian Newey (and team) designed a pretty stout car for the 2001 Formula One season. It wasn’t enough to best Ferrari, but it was enough to place second in the constructor’s championship. It was McLaren’s sixth-straight season with drivers David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen.
The period West livery has been replaced with “David” graphics, as Coulthard did well in this car. It’s competition history (for this, chassis MP4-16A-05) includes:
2001 San Marino Grand Prix – 2nd (with David Coulthard)
2001 Spanish Grand Prix – 5th (with Coulthard)
2001 Austrian Grand Prix – 1st (with Coulthard)
2001 Monaco Grand Prix – 5th (with Coulthard)
2001 Canadian Grand Prix – 3rd (with Mika Hakkinen)
2001 German Grand Prix – 12th, DNF (with Coulthard)
It was also used as a test car at various races. During the season, it was powered by a 3.0-liter Mercedes (Ilmor) V10 that made about 830 horsepower. Now it just has a dummy display engine in its place. No estimate is provided. Click here for more info.
