Michael Schumacher's Ferrari F2002B, which won the 2001 Australian Grand Prix, will soon go up for auction at Sotheby's.
Chassis 215 is one of the rare cars that has never been out of the podium during its race and offers an extraordinary opportunity to own one of the best cars of the modern era.
One of Schumacher's last sold Ferrari F1 cars, the F2003-GA, sold for $14,9 million at Sotheby's last year, doubling the record F2017 sold for $7,5 million in 2001.
Schumacher, who drove the F2002B in the first two races of the 2001 season, said: "We want to use the new car as soon as possible, but only if it's better and more reliable than this car." had used the words.
Schumacher, who was away from all the chaos in the opening race in Australia, which started with an accident in which his brother Ralf Schumacher hit Rubens Barrichello from behind and took off, made a very good start to the season by winning the race.
He actually dropped to fourth place in the first lap, but got to the second place as a result of spins first by Juan Pablo Montoya and then by Jarno Trulli.
Finally, the absence of leader David Coulthard raised Schumacher to the lead, and Schumacher, who never looked back after that, achieved the victory with a margin of 18.6 seconds.
This was the first of 11 races that Schumacher would win on his way to his fifth title.
Speaking after the race, Schumacher said: "I didn't think we could win here."
"But things change quickly and I expect everyone to be much closer together from the next race." he said.
Team principal at the time, Jean Todt, talks about this fantastic period of F1 and especially his pleasure working with Schumacher in the video below:
Schumacher, who also went to the Malaysian GP with this car, dropped to third place at the start of the race, which he started from pole position, and damaged his front wing after a contact with Montoya.
Schumacher, who was relegated to 21st place due to this contact, had one of the best drives of his career and managed to take the podium by overtaking the young driver of BAR-Honda, Jenson Button, in the final laps.
Regarding the race, Schumacher said, “It was an exciting race.”
“Regarding the accident, maybe Juan could have given me more room, but he chose not to and we just made contact. It's called racing."
"It was a small touch, but at the end of the day I had to pit to replace the front wing."
“I decided to push it all the way, and if I didn't I probably wouldn't have caught Button, who obviously had a problem.”
"We brought our old car for the first two races and we didn't expect so many points at home already."
The F2001b comes equipped with a three-litre, Gilles Simon-designed Tipo 050 V10 engine - producing around 18.500 horsepower at 900 rpm - and an electro-hydraulic, seven-speed sequential gearbox. The weight of the vehicle is only 600 kilograms.
One of the most desirable vehicles, the Ferrari 2001B Chassis 215, will be available for purchase at separate online auctions, along with the second of just five of the 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta 'Tour de France' road cars with Zagato body.
Both cars will be on display at RM Sotheby's flagship Monterey auction from August 16-19.
