Michael Schumacher’s 2001 Monaco Grand Prix-winning Ferrari fetches £13.4MILLION at auction as it becomes his most expensive F1 car ever sold

The Ferrari driven by Michael Schumacher during his triumph in the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix has sold at auction.

Sold by auction company RM Sotheby’s, the F2001 fetched an eye-watering £13.43million (€15.98m) ahead of Monaco qualifying earlier this week.

Schumacher drove the car during his victories at both Monaco and the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2001 en route to his fourth world championship.

The sale marks the most expensive of Schumacher’s Formula One cars to be sold at auction, eclipsing the £9.75m paid for his F2003 back in 2002.

However, despite the hefty sale price, the sale remains just the fourth most expensive F1 car ever sold.

The record was set earlier this year, when a silver Mercedes W196 R Stromlinienwagen driven by Argentine racing legend Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1955 Buenos Aires Grand Prix sold for £42.75million.

The F2001 was driven by the German in his victories at Monaco and Hungary as he won his fourth of his seven world championships in 2001

Schumacher has not appeared publicly since a 2013 skiing accident (pictured with wife Corinna in 2005)

Schumacher would go on to capture a further three world championships before retiring from racing in 2012 following a brief return to the sport.

His seven Formula One world championship victories stood as a record for more than a decade before it was matched by current Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton in 2020.

The year after his retirement, Schumacher suffered a serious brain injury whilst skiing and was placed into a medically induced coma.

Since the incident the 56-year-old has not appeared publicly and is cared for by a team of medical staff and his wife Corinna at their Lake Geneva home.

Schumacher’s family remain very protective of his privacy and it is understood that many of their close friends and relations are even unsure about the state of his health