In a thrilling moment for motorsport fans, Michael Schumacher’s iconic 2001 Ferrari F2001 chassis #211 has shattered all previous records, selling for a staggering €15.98 million ($18.19 million) at RM Sotheby’s auction that took place over the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix weekend. This sale not only marks the highest price ever paid for a Schumacher-driven Formula 1 car, but also marks the first time an F1 car has been auctioned during a Grand Prix weekend in the principality.
Dubbed ‘The Crown Jewel’, Chassis #211 is of particular significance, as it was this very car that took Schumacher to victory at the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix. Later that season, this same machine also clinched the Hungarian Grand Prix, securing Schumacher his fourth Driver’s Championship, and further contributing to Ferrari’s Constructors’ title. Notably, it remains the only Ferrari chassis with which Schumacher achieved both a Monaco win and a World Championship in the same season.
The F2001 was conceived in Modena by Scuderia’s ‘Super team’, comprising Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, and Schumacher himself. It packed a 3.0-liter V10 engine that put out 825 horsepower, and screaming to a mind-numbing 17,000 rpm, it produced a soundtrack that defined the golden era of Formula 1.
This historic sale also places the F2001 well ahead of several other Schmacher-era race cars that have crossed the auction block. Back in 2017, another F2002 chassis #219, also driven by Schumacher to victory, sold for $7.5 million at a Sotheby’s contemporary art auction in New York City. It marked a major milestone for the time and the earliest recognition of F1 cars with pedigree, as collectibles.
More recently, in 2022, Schumacher’s 2003 Ferrari F2003-GA, chassis #229, a car that took him to his sixth World Championship win, fetched CHF 14.6 million ($14.8 million) at auction in Geneva, Switzerland. That chassis had five wins to its name and was the most expensive modern-era F1 car sold, until this weekend’s record-breaking sale of chassis #211.
Beyond its racing provenance, this sale also had a philanthropic cause with a portion of the proceeds donated to the ‘Keep Fighting Foundation’, a charity established to continue Michael Schumacher’s charitable work following his 2013 accident. While the howl of V10 F1 engines fades into memory, the legacy of one of Motorsport’s most legendary figures continues to endure.
Source: RM Sotheby’s, Ferrari
