Despite Lewis Hamilton’s challenging weekend at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, one of his previous vehicles achieved an impressive sale at auction in the city known for its entertainment extravagance.
The car in which Lewis Hamilton secured his first victory for Mercedes was sold for a staggering £15 million at the auction. It’s remarkable to consider this, especially given Hamilton’s subsequent success with the Silver Arrows, where he clinched six Formula 1 titles. At the end of 2012, Hamilton took a significant leap of faith by departing from the successful McLaren team.
Mercedes, having acquired the Brawn team that defied the odds to win both titles in 2009, experienced three challenging seasons with Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher behind the wheel. However, as the new era approached in 2014, Hamilton believed that Mercedes was a team on the rise. The preceding year had been a building period for the Brackley-based squad, with a few notable moments.
In 2013, Rosberg secured two wins, while Hamilton’s lone victory came at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The exact car from that race, chassis #4, was auctioned this weekend in Las Vegas, marking the return of F1 to the ‘Capital of Entertainment’ for the first time since the early 1980s.
The car had a pre-sale estimate of $10 million-$15 million (£8 million-£12 million). However, during the auction conducted by Sotheby’s at Wynn’s Awakening Theater and hosted by TV presenter and writer James Corden, the car fetched an astonishing $18.8 million, just over £15 million.
While the 2013 season was considered modest by Hamilton and Mercedes’ later standards, it was significantly better than the 2023 season, which concluded without a single victory for the duo unless they manage a surprising turnaround at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend.
Despite Hamilton’s personal disappointment with a challenging weekend in Vegas, where he finished seventh after sustaining car damage in a clash with Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, the seven-time world champion praised the grand prix as a breakthrough moment for the sport.
“For all those who said it was all about the show, Vegas proved them wrong,” said Hamilton in an apparent swipe against winner Max Verstappen, who has repeatedly slammed the showbiz aspect of the weekend.
