There is aura and then there is Michael Schumacher. Growing up watching Formula One, it was hard not to be impressed by the German in Red, dominating race after race, riding the prancing horse to victory. If there was a pantheon of millennial sporting excellence, it would include Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Schumacher.
Is it a surprise then that one of his F1 cars, the 2001 Ferrari F2001 Chassis 211, has just sold for €15.98 million? It is not. That is the price to rub shoulders with greatness. Or perhaps rub race seats with greatness. Either way.
Schumacher puts the F2001 Chassis 211 through its paces around the streets of Monaco.
The car was sold by RM Sotheby’s last weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix, the first time a sale has been conducted during a Grand Prix weekend in the principality. The reason for that is that Chassis 211 won the race in 2001 when it was driven by Schumacher, making it the last Ferrari car to win at Monaco in a championship-winning year.
The car was also used and victorious at the 2001 Hungarian Grand Prix, which secured Schumacher’s fourth Drivers’ Championship. That win also secured back-to-back Championship doubles for Schumacher and Ferrari.
This is all a lot of words to say that the F2001 is one of the great F1 cars. I, and no doubt also many others, yearn for the days of the V10s. There are few sounds as special to the F1 fan than the 17,000rpm scream of the V10. The car was also designed by the Scuderia ‘super team’ of Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne, key components of Ferrari’s domination at the turn of the century. Our very own Adam Hay-Nicholls wrote the particulars for the car, if more information is your desire.
RM Sotheby’s describe this car as ‘The Schumacher Crown Jewel’. It’s hard not to agree. Congratulations to the lucky owner. A charitable donation will be made from the proceeds to Michael Schumacher’s Keep Fighting Foundation.
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