Most Successful Ferrari F1 Car Up for Sale: Michael Schumacher’s 1998 F300
The Ferrari F1 car Michael Schumacher drove to four F1 victories — three in a row! — and zero losses is going to auction next month.
It has to be hard, right? Deciding which of the hundreds of racing cars Ferrari has built over the last decades is the best one. This car, though, has a solid claim to that title.
It’s the most successful racing car Ferrari has ever built, and the only undefeated Ferrari F1 car to enter at least three races, thanks in no small part to having Michael Schumacher behind the wheel for all of its races.
Oh, and it’s for sale publicly for the first time.
1998 F1 Title Contender
The 1998 Formula One title fight came down to the wire. Mika Häkkinen took an early season lead in his McLaren-Mercedes, but Schumacher came on strong as the number of races remaining wound down.
It was Schumacher’s strong performances in this car that brought the standings close. That’s not this car as in the year’s Ferrari F300 model, but this specific car. Chassis 187.
Chassis Debuted With 3 Consecutive Wins
Chassis 187 made its debut at the Canadian Grand Prix, where Schumacher took fastest lap honors and the race win. He won again in the car at the next event of the season in France and made it three in a row by winning at the British Grand Prix.
After four races in a different chassis, including one win at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the duo scored what might be their most important victory.
Pole position and a race win for Schumacher and car 187 in the Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari’s home race at the Monza circuit in front of a mass of screaming fans.
Suddenly, the Driver Championship standings were level between the two with two races to go. Perhaps more importantly, Ferrari was also back in the hunt for the Constructors’ Championship.
In the penultimate event of the season, Häkkinen beat Schumacher, putting him ahead for the title.
Title Fight Came Down to the Last Event
Though few drivers in F1 have had more dramatic last-race title fights than Michael Schumacher, this year wasn’t one of them. After stalling (from pole) on the starting grid, Schumacher suffered a late-race tire failure and retired.
The Driver and Constructors’ titles went to McLaren-Mercedes.
Maybe that’s because he wasn’t in car 187, because that car’s four wins in four races make it Ferrari’s most successful F1 car ever. It was the only one in the company’s 75 years of competing in Formula 1 that went undefeated in more than two races.
Chassis 187 stayed with Ferrari until 1999. In a private sale, the Scuderia sent the car as it was in its last race appearance to a new owner. That owner has held on to the car for more than 20 years.
One-Owner, Low-Mileage Ferrari for Sale
Until now. Now, the car is for sale.
Still in as-raced condition, the car is up for auction at RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale.
RM Sotheby’s says that the car was hidden away for the last 23 years with its first private owner. Unrestored, unaltered, and intact, it is up for the highest bidder to put in their collection.
This is a car from just before Formula 1 moved to a new generation of small-displacement hybrid powerplants. So, it’s powered by a 3.0L V10 that can scream to a stratospheric 17,500 rpm and makes more than 800 horsepower.
RM Sotheby’s gives this Ferrari an auction estimate of $6-8 million. The Monterey sale, running August 18-21, is part of Monterey Car Week. One of the most prestigious automotive events in the world, it is a celebration of the motor car that takes place each year in the seaside California town.
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