Most Expensive Formula 1 Grand Prix Racing Cars Ever Sold at Auction

The most expensive Formula 1 racing cars ever sold at public auction are two 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R cars raced by Fangio and Hamilton’s 2013 Mercedes-AMG Petronas W04 followed by several championship-winning Ferraris.

Race-winning Formula 1 single-seater racing cars are surprisingly rarely offered for sale at public auction but a few exceptional racers are among the most expensive and most valuable cars ever sold. The two most expensive Formula 1 racing cars ever are two Mercedes-Benz W196R single-seaters that were raced by Juan Manuel Fangio: the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 R Streamliner sold for $54 million in 2025 while the open-wheel 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 racing car achieved nearly $30 million in 2013. The most valuable modern-era Formula 1 car is the 2013 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 W04-04, driven by Lewis Hamilton, which sold for $18.8 million in 2023. It is followed by several Ferraris (mostly driven by Michael Schumacher) and two special McLarens.

Most Expensive Formula 1 Racing Cars Ever Sold at Auction

The list of the most expensive Formula 1 single-seater racing cars ever sold at public auction (up to 1 February 2025) are:

Note: Nominal prices including premium. USD prices as converted at the time of auction where applicable.

Most Valuable Formula 1 Grand Prix Racing Cars Ever Sold

Most-Expensive F1 Grand Prix Car Ever: 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Streamliner

The 1954/1955 Mercedes-Benz W196R Stromlinienwagen Formula 1 racing car, chassis 9, with a streamlined body sold for €51,155,000 ($53,917,370) at the RM Sotheby’s Stuttgart 2025 auction at the Mercedes-Benz Museum making this W196R Silver Arrows the second-most expensive car ever, the most expensive Formula 1 car ever, and the most expensive racing car ever. 

This Mercedes-Benz was raced as an open-fender car by Juan Manual Fangio to two second-place finishes in two heats of the non-championship Buenos Aires GP in 1955, which gave him victory over all. It was raced with streamliner coachwork at the Monza GP by Stirling Moss, who set the fastest lap, before retiring. (Fangio won the race in a second Stromlinienwagen, no 18 in the Mercedes-Benz Museum display.)

In total, 14 Mercedes Benz W196R chassis were built of which 10 were in running condition at the end of 1955. Four had the special Stromlinienwagen coachwork, of which chassis #00009/54 is the only one ever offered for sale in a public auction. It was sold at the 2025 sale by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum to fund expansion.

Second MostExpensive F1 Car Ever: 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R

The 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 single-seater racing car, chassis 006, driven by legendary five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio was the most expensive car ever sold at auction at the time of the sale when it achieved a record-breaking £19.6 million ($29.65 million) at the Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed sale 2013. Although the price was almost double the previous record achieved by a Ferrari in 2011, this Mercedes held the title as the most expensive car ever for less than a year. It remains by far the most valuable Formula 1 car sold in a public auction for 12 years.

Most Expensive Modern-Era Formula 1 Grand Prix Car: 2013 Mercedes-AMG Petronas W04

The 2013 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 W04-04, driven by Lewis Hamilton, sold for $18,815,000 as the top result in the RM Sotheby’s Las Vegas 2023 collector car auction. It became the most expensive Formula 1 racing car from the modern era and second overall only behind the Fangio-driven Silver Arrows.

Although Lewis Hamilton won only one of his over 100 GP victories in this car (Hungary 2013), this was his first race win in a Mercedes. Perhaps, more significantly in establishing the price was that this is the only Mercedes-AMG Petronas ever sold outside the company sphere and thus the first and only one ever offered for sale to the public. After the 2010 McLaren MP4-25A, it was only the second Hamilton-driven Formula 1 car ever sold at auction.

Most Expensive Ferrari Formula 1 Grand Prix Racing Cars Ever

Michael Schumacher Ferrari Prices at Auction

For several years the few Michael Schumacher race-winning Ferraris that were offered for sale at public auction were the most expensive modern-era F1 cars. These Ferraris, all sold in RM Sotheby’s auctions, included the cars in which Schumacher secured his fifth and sixth championship victories, as well as the Ferrari in which he won the Monaco Grand Prix for the fifth and final time.

Jody Schekter’s 1979 Ferrari 312 T4

Jody Scheckter’s 1979 Ferrari 312 T4 sold for a remarkable €7,655,000 ($8,250,800), as the second-highest price ever paid for a Ferrari F1 car at public auction.

Jody Scheckter drove the car in nine races in his driver’s championship-winning year including in all three of his victories in 1979—the Belgian, Monaco, and Italian Grands Prix. The 312 T4 was Enzo Ferrari’s last Formula One Drivers’ World Championship-winning car and the last Ferrari that won the championship until the Michael Schumacher era.

Remarkable Formula 1 Racing Car Results at Auction

Two of the most remarkable Formula 1 racing car auction results occurred in the same 2018 Monaco sale by Bonhams on two cars driven at Monaco by Ayrton Senna:

• The 1993 McLaren MP4/8A in which Senna secured his record sixth Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix victory sold for just $5 million — although the second-highest F1 result ever at the time, many considered the price disappointingly low.
• Senna’s first Monaco racer – a 1984 Toleman-Hart TG184 that Senna raced to a sensational second place in his Monaco GP debut – sold for an equally sensational $1.9 million (double presale estimate).