On the sidelines of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a charity auction was held in which the first Formula 1 driven by Lewis Hamilton. A McLaren single-seater sold for more than $2M.
This 2006 McLaren is a bit like the beginning of the Lewis Hamilton legend in Formula 1. At the time, the 21-year-old Briton was driving in GP2, the equivalent of today's Formula 2. He is also a contract driver with the British team under the protection of Ron Dennis. With the hope of tenure one day. At the time, Juan-Pablo Montoya teamed up in Formula 1 with another McLaren house driver, Kimi Raikkonen.
The beginning of Lewis Hamilton's great story in F1
Things will accelerate for Lewis Hamilton when the Finnish driver signs with Scuderia Ferrari to succeed Michael Schumacher. He then carried out several tests at the wheel of this McLaren driven in the race by Juan Pablo Montoya on the Jerez and Elvington circuits between October and November 2006 and then at the beginning of 2007.
With the departure of Raikkonen, McLaren is recruiting a big name, Fernando Alonso, double reigning world champion. The team decides to part ways with Juan Pablo Montoya to start Lewis Hamilton who, in his first season, will fight for the title against… Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.
Sold at a lower price than estimates
This McLaren driven in private testing by Lewis Hamilton and certified by the McLaren Racing Heritage department was therefore offered during the Amfar and RM Sotheby's auction evening. It was sold for $2.5 million. A price below the auction house's estimates (between $2.8 and $3.5 million).
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