F1: Bernie Ecclestone sells car collection worth ‘hundreds of millions’

Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone is to sell his collection of racing cars driven by motorsport legends including Michael Schumacher, Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet.

Ecclestone, who was in charge of the sport for almost 40 years until 2017, has amassed a collection of 69 iconic F1 and Grand Prix cars over a period of more than five decades.

The collection includes Ferraris driven by world champions Schumacher, Lauda and Mike Hawthorn, as well as Brabham cars driven by Piquet and Carlos Pace, among others.

“All the cars I have bought over the years have a fantastic racing history and are rare works of art,” said 94-year-old Ecclestone.

Cars for sale include Stirling Moss’ Vanwall VW10, which became the first British car to win an F1 race and the constructors’ championship in 1958.

“I love all my cars but it’s time to think about what will happen to them when I’m no longer here and that’s why I’ve decided to sell them,” Ecclestone added.

“After collecting and owning them for so long, I would like to know where they have gone and not leave them to my wife to take care of when I am away.”

The former Brabham team principal has appointed specialist sports and racing car seller Tom Hartley Jnr Ltd to manage the sale.

“There are many eight-figure cars in the collection, and the total value of the collection is well into the hundreds of millions,” Tom Hartley Jr. said.

“The collection spans 70 years of racing, but for me the Ferraris are the highlight.”

“There’s the famous ‘Thin Wall Special’ which was the first Ferrari to ever beat Alfa Romeo, Alberto Ascari’s 375 F1 which won the Italian GP and the historically significant championship cars of Lauda and Schumacher.”

Also included are the Brabham BT46B, described as a “fan car” and designed by Gordon Murray, which Lauda drove to victory in the 1978 Swedish GP, and the BT45C, in which the Austrian made his debut for Ecclestone’s team that same year gave.

Billionaire Ecclestone took over the commercial rights to Formula One in the mid-1990s and played a key role in making the sport one of the most watched sports in the world.