F1: Michael Schumacher's 2001 Monaco GP-winning Ferrari sells for 7 million USD
Michael Schumacher has won the Monaco GP five times. The fifth and final time that he did win at the Monte Carlo street circuit, he piloted a Ferrari F2001, chassis 211. This very car has now sold at an auction for a record 7,504,000 USD. Which is, if the zeros are confusing you, seven and a half million dollars. That is a record for an F1 car of the modern era.
The car, which Schumi piloted to his fourth, of seven, Formula 1 championship titles, was auctioned at the Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York. It has been reported that this is the first time that a car was offered at a Sotheby's art auction. After a six-minute battle between eight different bidders, the Ferrari was sold for twice it's pre-sale estimate. It had been estimated at approximately 4 million USD.
Schumacher would go on to win another three Formula 1 titles, before retiring from the sport at the end of the 2006 season. He then would make a return to Formula 1 between 2010 and 2012, this time with the Mercedes team, before retiring once again. The seven-time world champion would then suffer a near-fatal skiing accident in December 2013, that has left him in a near catatonic state since.