- A 2006 Ferrari 248 F1 race car is headed to auction
- Michael Schumacher drove the F1 car before his temporary retirement
- An F1 car previously driven by Schumacher sold for $14.8M in 2022.
Michael Schumacher remains one of Formula 1's most successful drivers, with most of that success coming in a dominant era with Ferrari in the early 2000s. The car that marked the end of that era will be auctioned off by RM Sotheby's Nov. 14.
The 2006 Ferrari 248 F1 is the last Ferrari F1 car raced by Schumacher, who temporarily retired following the 2006 season. Schumacher didn't add to his record-tying seven championships that season, but he did score his final five victories and last three pole positions. His final pole and win were scored in the car up for auction—chassis number 254.
This season marked F1's switch from 3.0-liter V-10 engines to 2.4-liter V-8s, and Ferrari hoped the fresh start would allow it to reset from a disappointing 2005 season in which it lost the drivers' and constructors' championships to Fernando Alonso and Renault, respectively. Those were the first championship losses for Ferrari since 2000, breaking the Scudera's (and Schumacher's) stranglehold on F1.
2006 Ferrari 248 F1 driven by Michael Schumacher (image via RM Sotheby's)
The first V-8 Ferrari F1 car since the championship-winning 158 of 1964, the 248 F1 didn't quite live up to expectations—Alonso and Renault repeated their championship-winning form—but it was much more competitive than the 2005 car. Schumacher came home first in the San Marino, European, United States, French, and German Grands Prix. The latter was his final F1 win—on home soil, nonetheless.
Producing 730 hp initially, and up to 758 hp by the end of the season thanks to development work, the 248 F1 also powered Schumacher to his final pole position, also at the German Grand Prix. Chassis 254 is also the car in which Schumacher surpassed Ayrton Senna's record for pole positions (both drives have since been surpassed by Lewis Hamilton) and took the German driver to three second-place finishes and four fastest laps.
Schumacher returned to F1 with Mercedes-AMG in 2010, but wasn't able to add to his victory tally during three seasons with the team. He qualified on pole for the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix, but didn't start there due to a five-place grid penalty from a collision with Bruno Senna at the previous race. The 248 F1 thus represents the end of Schumacher's F1 glory days—and the beginning of the end of Ferrari's.
2006 Ferrari 248 F1 driven by Michael Schumacher (image via RM Sotheby's)
Ferrari 248 chassis 254 also boasts a connection to another F1 star. It was the first Ferrari driven by Kimi Räikkönen, during pre-season testing in Jan. 2007. Räikkönen would go on to win the drivers' championship, with Ferrari winning the constructors' championship after McLaren was excluded in the "Spygate" scandal. These remain Ferrari's last F1 championships.
RM Sotheby's did not publish a pre-auction estimate for this car, but to give you an idea, an ex-Schumacher Ferrari F1 car from the 2003 season sold for $14.8 million at auction in 2022.
