F1 Legends

Ayrton Senna car up for sale... And it could become one of the most expensive F1 cars EVER sold

Sam Cook Sunday 1 February 2026 18:57

An Ayrton Senna-driven F1 car is up for auction, and it could turn out to be one of the most expensive F1 cars ever sold.

Senna won three world championship titles in F1 and is largely considered to be one of the greatest drivers ever lived, still sitting third on the all-time list of pole positions in the sport.

The Brazilian tragically passed away at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, during a fateful weekend in which Roland Ratzenberger also died in a separate incident, and safety measures in F1 were markedly improved in the aftermath of that weekend.

But now RM Sotheby's are taking us back to the early stages of Senna's legendary career in F1, with the sale of one of his Lotus cars.

Before his championship-winning days with McLaren, Senna raced for Lotus, claiming his first six career grand prix victories in a spell between 1985-1987.

RM Sotheby's are selling the 1986 Lotus 98T, owned by somebody in Alton in the UK, and the car is expected to sell for somewhere between $9,500,000 - $12,000,000 (around £9 million).

The chassis was raced by Senna himself during eight grands prix that season, with the Brazilian winning both the Spanish Grand Prix and United States Grand Prix in that eight-race spell.

It was also the final F1 car to feature the iconic black and gold John Player Special livery, synonymous with 1970s and 80s F1, including when another Brazilian in Emerson Fittipaldi raced the 1972 Lotus to championship success.

The most expensive F1 cars ever sold

If it was to reach and exceed the top end of RM Sotheby's valuation, then the 1986 Lotus 98T might just break into the top five of the list of most expensive F1 cars ever sold.

Number five on that list is Michael Schumacher's 2003 Ferrari, which was sold for just over £10million.

The top three in that list are all Mercedes cars, with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton's 2013 Mercedes W04 selling for over £15million.

Two of Juan Manuel Fangio's Mercedes cars make up the top two, with the 1954 Mercedes W196R Stromlinienwagen driven by him and Sir Stirling Moss having sold for an eyewatering £42.7million in 2025.

F1 Ayrton Senna Lotus