A 2010 McLaren-Mercedes Formula 1 car, driven to victory by Sir Lewis Hamilton, has been sold at auction.
Sold by RM Sotheby’s, this is the first time a race-winning F1 driven by the seven-time champion has been offered to the public.
The auction took place as part of the British Grand Prix weekend, with the MP4-25A hitting the track after the new Sprint Qualifying event.
Race-winning heritage
Chassis number MP4-25A-01 was the first car to be built for the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship. During the season it would be driven by both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
Powered by a Mercedes-Benz 2.4-l naturally aspirated V8 engine, MP4-25A-01 achieved a number of important results for the McLaren team.
Hamilton drove the car to take an impressive second place at the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix, followed by fifth in Monaco.
However, the car’s greatest moment came at the Turkish Grand Prix. Despite a lengthy pit stop, a collision between the Red Bulls allowed Hamilton to seize the lead. He then held off Button to take the win.
Ready for the track again
At the end of the 2010 Formula 1 season, the car was placed into storage.
The car has been thoroughly restored by McLaren Racing Heritage and Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains. Detailed work was undertaken to get the car track-ready again, allowing the new owner to use it in anger.
This extended to X-raying safety critical parts, with the work taking from 2019 to 2021. All parts were replaced where necessary, with track testing undertaken.
Auctioned with a huge crowd present at Silverstone, the MP4-25A-01 achieved an impressive £4.836 million ($6.658 million) when the hammer fell.
The new owner now has a piece of rare British motorsport history. More importantly, it is one that can be used in anger on a race track again.
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