Lewis Hamilton's First Mercedes F1 Car Sells For Staggering $18.8 Million
F1Tuesday, 21 November 2023 at 04:00
Updated at Tuesday, 21 November 2023 at 08:46
Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes car from the 2023 F1 season has been sold for a staggering $18.8 million during a recent auction.
During the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, which was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, an auction was held at the Wynn's Awakening Theatre, which was hosted by James Corden, and one of the pieces of history sold at the auction was Lewis Hamilton's first Mercedes car.
Before moving to Mercedes in 2013, the British driver competed in McLaren from 2007 until 2012. His first season in Mercedes was one of his least successful seasons in his F1 career, but still, he managed to win the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix and finish fourth in the World Drivers' Championship.
And it's the car that got him first across the chequered flag at the Hungaroring that has recently been sold. It was sold by auction house RM Sotheby's, who claim it's the car that Hamilton drove in 14 out of 19 races in the 2023 season.
According to Sports Illustrated, Shelby Myers, who is RM Sotheby’s global head of private sales, spoke about the rare piece ahead of the auction, which climbed up to an astonishing $18,815,000.
"In the world of automotive greatness, few marques match the allure of the Mercedes Silver Arrows. The Mercedes W196, which sold for $29.6million, remains the most valuable Formula 1 car ever sold."
"Now, adding to the legacy of the Silver Arrows, we introduce the W04 – a car whose significance cannot be overstated.
It's the only publicly-available Hamilton's race car, as all others are owned either by Mercedes, the team's principal Toto Wolff, or the driver himself.
"Driven by Formula 1's most successful driver and sporting icon, Lewis Hamilton, this car delivered his very first win in a Mercedes F1 car, signalling the beginning of the marque's most dominant period: the Hamilton-Mercedes dynasty."
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