£41 million Mercedes F1 SALE to smash record

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F1 Legends

£41 million Mercedes SALE to smash F1 record

A legendary car is up for sale

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 16 January 2025 10:57

A Mercedes car driven by two Formula 1 legends is set to be sold for a record-breaking price.

The current iteration of the Mercedes F1 team joined the grid back in 2010, boasting a lineup consisting of two German stars, seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher and a young Nico Rosberg.

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Rosberg would go on to claim the 2016 title with Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton, who claimed six world championships and 84 grands prix victories with Mercedes in a legendary 12-season spell.

However, Hamilton and Schumacher are not the only two multiple-time champions to have raced with Mercedes. In the early days of F1, a five-time world champion won two of his titles with Mercedes.

Mercedes have boasted a number of F1 legends in their ranks

F1 car in record-breaking auction

Juan Manuel Fangio is one of only three men to have collected five or more titles in the sport, with the Argentine racer driving in F1 between 1950-1958.

In both the 1954 and 1955 seasons, Fangio drove a Mercedes, before the German manufacturer withdrew from F1 following the 1955 disaster at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, which killed more than 80 people, including Mercedes driver Pierre Levegh.

During the 1955 season, Fangio raced alongside British motorsport legend Sir Stirling Moss, who finished second in the championship that year.

Now, a car that the two F1 legends raced in, the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Stromlinienwagen, has been put up for auction on the RM Sotheby's website, with bids in excess of £41 million being invited.

The car was driven by Fangio on his way to a home win at the 1955 Buenos Aires Grand Prix, and translated from German, means 'streamlined'.

If it is sold, that asking price would smash the current record for the sale of an F1 car, which is currently held by the same car, when it was sold for £19.6 million back in 2013.

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Formula 1 Michael Schumacher Nico Rosberg Juan Manuel Fangio