In a rare offering, Schumacher’s 2002 Australian Grand Prix-winning Ferrari F2001b will be available to purchase with Sotheby’s Sealed.
Chassis 215 stands out among F1 chassis as it has always achieved podium positions throughout its competitive career. This presents a unique chance to own an exceptional modern machine.
One of the most-recent Schumacher Ferrari F1 cars to be sold, an F2003-GA, fetched $14.9m at a Sotheby’s auction last year – doubling the previous record for an F1 car, when an F2001 of his achieved $7.5m in 2017.
Car of Michael Schumacher, Ferrari F2001b Chassis No 215
Photo by: Jeremy Cliff
Schumacher opted for the F2001B in the initial two races of the 2002 season and expressed, “We desire to switch to the new car at the earliest opportunity, but only if it surpasses this one in terms of performance and reliability.”
Schumacher drove this car for the opening ‘flyaways’ of the 2002 season and won the Australian GP, an event that is memorable for the first-corner accident in which his brother Ralf’s Williams-BMW flew into the air over the back of Michael’s team-mate Rubens Barrichello.
During a race filled with events, Schumacher dropped to fourth position. However, he managed to secure third place by overtaking Juan Pablo Montoya from Williams after the Colombian driver made a wide slide following a safety car restart. Additionally, Schumacher moved up to second place after Jarno Trulli’s Renault spun out.
Leader David Coulthard (McLaren) then went off ahead of the second restart, with Montoya jumping back ahead of Schumacher to lead. Schumacher repassed Montoya with a great move around the outside of Turn 2 shortly after. From there he pulled away to win by 18.6s from Montoya.
Schumacher emerged victorious in the initial race out of a total of 11, paving his path towards securing his fifth Formula 1 World Championship in that particular year.
Schumacher expressed his surprise at winning the race, stating, “I didn’t anticipate our victory here. However, circumstances can change rapidly, and I anticipate a much tighter competition in the upcoming race.”
In this video, Jean Todt, the team principal of Ferrari, reflects on the remarkable period of F1 dominance and expresses his admiration for his collaboration with Schumacher.
Michael subsequently piloted the vehicle to secure a third-place position at Sepang in Malaysia, starting from the front of the grid. However, an altercation with Montoya resulted in damage to the car’s front wing. Despite this setback, Schumacher demonstrated an impressive display of skill by making a pitstop after the first lap and then mounting a remarkable comeback from 21st place to reclaim a spot on the podium. In the final moments, he overtook Jenson Button of BAR-Honda to ultimately finish in third position.
Schumacher expressed his enthusiasm for the race, stating that it was quite thrilling. Regarding the accident, he mentioned that Juan could have possibly allowed more space, but instead, we had a slight collision. Schumacher acknowledged that such incidents are part of racing. Although it was just a minor contact, he had to make a pit stop to replace the front wing.
“I made the choice to persist until the very end, and had I not done so, it is likely that I would not have been able to catch Button, who clearly encountered some difficulties. We have utilized the older vehicle for the initial two races and did not anticipate accumulating such a significant number of points.”
The F2001b comes equipped with a three-litre, Gilles Simon-designed Tipo 050 V10 engine – capable of producing almost 900 horsepower at 18,500rpm – and an electro-hydraulic, seven-speed sequential gearbox. It weighs just 600kg.
Car of Michael Schumacher, Ferrari F2001b Chassis No 215
Photo by: Jeremy Cliff
Among the most desirable of any modern-era grand prix cars in existence, Ferrari 2001b Chassis 215 will be available to buy, along with the second of only five Zagato-bodied 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta ‘Tour de France’ road cars, in separate online auctions.
Both cars will be on display at RM Sotheby’s flagship Monterey auction from 16-19 August, and the F2001b will open for bidding on the Sotheby’s Sealed platform from 16 August, 12pm PDT to 19 August, 12pm PDT.
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