Formula 1 cars are some of the greatest marvels of automotive engineering ever made, and they go for a pretty penny at auction, too.
Only a tiny fraction of people in the world are able to say that they’ve driven a Formula 1 car. The vast majority of those people are the athletes who, at one point or another, risked their lives week in and week out for our entertainment.
If you’re part of the overwhelming group of people who simply aren’t good enough to drive an F1 car to the absolute limit of its potential, the only other way you could do so is through purchasing a race-ready car at auction.
Here is a list of the top five most expensive Formula 1 cars that have gone to auction in the past. After seeing the prices of some of them, you won’t know what’s easier: becoming an F1 driver or being able to fork out the amount of cash that is needed to own one.
5. Ferrari F2003-GA
Michael Schumacher’s world championship-winning Ferrari Formula 1 car from the 2003 season is the first car on this list, which sold for close to £13m in 2022.
The car was in use from the fifth round of the season that year, with the Scuderia opting to continue with their 2002 chassis for the opening four race weekends.
Schumacher won five Grands Prix in the 2003-spec machine, and also secured three pole positions and a total of seven podiums on his way to his sixth world title in the sport.
The iconic car was overhauled in the same year by Ferrari technicians who restored the machine to a drivable state.
Mick Schumacher, the son of the F1 legend, got behind the wheel of the car in a private shakedown for fans ahead of the eye-watering sale.
4. Ferrari F2001
Michael Schumacher’s second title-winning Ferrari F1 car takes the next spot.
Over the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix race weekend, the Prancing Horse’s 2001-spec F1 challenger sold for just over £14m.
A percentage of the proceeds went towards the Keep Fighting Foundation, a charitable organisation that continues with Schumacher’s philanthropy following his devastating 2013 skiing accident.
This particular chassis was a special one in the eyes of those involved, as it was the same no. 211 model that the German legend secured his victory at the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix and clinched the title later on in the year.
Schumacher was utterly dominant at the wheel of it. Over the duration of the 17-round season, he won nine Grands Prix, took 11 pole positions and a total of 14 podiums on his way to a fourth world title for himself.
3. Mercedes-AMG Petronas W04
While the Mercedes W04 wasn’t the most competitive piece of machinery during Lewis Hamilton’s tenure as a Silver Arrow, it was arguably the most important.
The seven-time world champion’s very first Mercedes F1 car from the 2013 season sold for £15.1m in a 2023 auction, which put it as the second most expensive F1 car ever at the time.
In a season dominated by Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull, Hamilton claimed his first and only win of the year for the German constructor in the W04 at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The car also served as the precursor to Hamilton’s sheer dominance that swept the Formula 1 grid in the coming years.
It is understood to be the only Mercedes Grand Prix car from the modern era not owned by the German manufacturer, team principal and CEO Toto Wolff or Lewis Hamilton himself.
2. Mercedes-Benz W196R Open-Wheel
History was made when Juan Manuel Fangio’s world title-clinching Mercedes-Benz W196R was sold in 2013 for £19.6m.
The Mercedes F1 car carried Fangio to his second of five eventual championships, and was an integral part of him becoming the very first legend of the sport during its early years.
The W196R originally featured a closed-wheel configuration, and decided to build an open-wheel version at the request of the Argentine ahead of the 1954 German Grand Prix after he found it difficult to precisely manoeuvre his car around the Silverstone circuit at the time.
Fangio would go on to claim six wins across the nine-race calendar in 1954, and was in a league of his own at the very top of the F1 standings as a result.
1. Mercedes-Benz W196R Streamliner
The closed-wheel version of Fangio’s 1954 challenger occupies the top spot on this list, having been sold for a mind-blowing £42.8m in 2025.
The Streamliner was used at certain tracks that begged for less drag, such as the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which was, of course, won by Fangio.
This particular chassis, no. 00009/54, is one of only four ever made, and it was the first of the four to go into private ownership following its sale last February.
As well as being the most valuable F1 car ever, it also became the second-most valuable car ever bought at auction following the sale of a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe that went for £113m in May 2022.
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