Michael Schumacher’s Australian Grand Prix-winning Ferrari F1 car heads to auction

The Ferrari Formula One car which helped deliver Michael Schumacher his record-equalling fifth world championship is heading to auction this month – and it could sell for an eye-watering amount.

Listed by RM Sotheby’s through its exclusive ‘Sotheby’s Sealed’ division, this Ferrari F2001b – designated Chassis 215 – was raced by Michael Schumacher in the opening two rounds of the 2002 Formula One season, as the Maranello-based team was still preparing the new F2002.

Powered by a 3.0-litre V10 engine, the Ferrari F2001b reportedly developed as much as 615kW in qualifying trim, while the car itself weighed just 600kg – almost 200kg lighter than today’s Formula One cars.

In the first round of the 2002 season at the Australian Grand Prix, Schumacher avoided an opening lap crash – involving his team-mate Rubens Barichello and brother Ralf Schumacher – before going on to win the Melbourne race, putting him into the points lead from the outset.

At the next race in Malaysia, Schumacher and the F2001b took pole position (the 150th in Ferrari’s Formula One history) though he had to defend the lead into the first corner, resulting in a collision with Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya.

Schumacher had to pit for a new front wing and was able to fight back through the field from as low as 21st place to come home in third – behind the brother Ralf and Juan Pablo Montoya – allowing him to hold onto his points lead in the championship.

The Ferrari F2001b was ultimately succeeded by the F2002 at the next race in Brazil, continuing Schumacher’s unbelievable run of form which saw him finish on the podium in every race of the season and win 11 races.

By the 11th round of the 17-round season, Schumacher had scored enough points to be world champion, equalling the great Juan Manuel Fangio’s tally of five championships – a feat since surpassed by Schumacher himself and Lewis Hamilton, who both sit on seven titles.

While Schumacher would have won the championship even without driving in the F2001b – as his 144 points scored were double that of second-placed Barichello (77) and almost triple Montoya’s tally (50) – Chassis 215 played an important role in the German’s historic season.

Sotheby’s Sealed does not provide an estimate of how much Michael Schumacher’s F2001b could sell for, though two of the icon’s former cars have sold for multi-million dollar sums within the past year.

In August 2022, the Ferrari F300 which Schumacher raced to four wins in 1998 sold at an RM Sotheby’s auction for $US6.22 million ($AU9.5 million).

Just a handful of months later in November, the F2003-GA Schumacher drove to his record-breaking sixth Formula One championship in 2003 sold for an eye-watering 14.63 million Swiss francs – equivalent to $23.18 million in Australian currency and more than double the previous record for a car driven the F1 legend.

However, it failed to beat the record of £17.5 million ($AU31.11 million) – set by Juan Manuel Fangio’s 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 ‘Silver Arrow’ in 2013.

The Ferrari F2001b Chassis 215 is due to be auctioned on August 16 at 12pm California time (5am August 17 AEST) as a part of the Monterey Car Week