Michael Schumacher’s F1 car from his third World Championship victory will go under the hammer at auction next month.
The seven-time F1 champion's Ferrari that helped propel him to the title in 2000 is now being made available at a sealed auction in Hong Kong.
Schumacher 's Ferrari F2000 car - the Chassis 198 - will be auctioned by RM Sotheby from April 3 to April 12. And the German racing icon's vehicle is set to command a mega price after his 2003 title-winning car was sold at auction for $14.8million (£12.9m) in November.
The F2003 became the most expensive modern-era F1 car ever sold and the revolutionary vehicle that helped him win his first world title at Ferrari has similar prestige.
The chassis was crucial in helping "reset the bar for engineering and performance for its time", proving the framework for the beginning of a period of dominance in F1 for the Scuderia.
Legendary Schumacher drove the V-12 engine challenger to victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix, while also securing a rare pole position at Monaco in the car.
It had initially been designed as Ferrari's spare car, but was called into action after Schumacher suffered damage early on in the season and carried him to the first of five titles wins for the historic Italian team.
“There is no greater name in the pantheon of motorsport than Ferrari, and few more decorated or celebrated drivers than Michael Schumacher," the RM Sotheby description read ahead of the auction.
“Together, Schumacher and the Scuderia formed a history-making partnership, winning five back-to-back Formula One World Drivers’ Championships between 2000 and 2004 and topping the Constructors’ table no fewer than six times.
“The Prancing Horse’s total domination of the sport from the turn of the millennium was due in no small part to Schumacher’s incredible once-in-a-generation talent.
“But also the engineering genius of Technical Director Ross Brawn and the now legendary Ferrari F1-2000 grand prix car that he helped create—a machine that reset the bar for engineering and performance for its time."
It added: "Chassis 198, the car offered here, proved vital to the success of Schumacher’s Championship-winning 2000 season."
