Automotive

Schumacher's 2001 Ferrari F1 for sale as contemporary art

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Three starts, two wins, two titles and driven by the most successful driver in history ... but is it art?
Sotheby's / Pawel Litwinski © 2017 / Ferrari / LAT Images
With seven world F1 championships, Michael Schumacher is the most successful F1 racing driver in history.
Ferrari
Victory celebrations for Ferrari at the 2001 Hungarian Grand Prix could not have been more complete. Ferrari finished 1-2 withe Rubens Barrichello in second place and team manager Jean Todt joined them on the podium. Todt now runs Formula One.
Ferrari
Michael Schumacher celebrates his fourth World F1 Drivers Championship on the podium at the 2001 Hungarian Grand Prix. The win also saw him equal Alain Prost's record of 51 Grand Prix victories.
Ferrari
The moment when Michael Schumacher won the 2001 Formula One title in THIS car. His win in the XVII Marlboro Magyar Nagydíj (17th Marlboro Hungarian Grand Prix) at the Hungaroring on August 19, 2001 gave him an unassailable lead in the championship with four races still to run.
Ferrari
Three starts, two wins, two titles and driven by the most successful driver in history ... but is it art?
Sotheby's / Pawel Litwinski © 2017 / Ferrari / LAT Images
Schumacher exits the Nouvelle Chicane on his way to winning the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix.
Sotheby's / LAT Images
Michael Schumacher's F2001 Ferrari will go to auction at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction on November 16, 2017 in New York.
Sotheby's / Pawel Litwinski © 2017
The cockpit of the F2001
Sotheby's / Pawel Litwinski © 2017
Michael Schumacher's F2001 Ferrari will go to auction at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction on November 16, 2017 in New York.
Sotheby's / Pawel Litwinski © 2017
Michael Schumacher's F2001 Ferrari will go to auction at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction on November 16, 2017 in New York.
Sotheby's / Pawel Litwinski © 2017
Entirely original in every respect, right down to the seatbelts ... functional art at its finest.
Sotheby's / Pawel Litwinski © 2017
Michael Schumacher's F2001 Ferrari will go to auction at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction on November 16, 2017 in New York.
Sotheby's / Pawel Litwinski © 2017
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It is a sign of the times that a Ferrari racing car pivotal in winning Michael Schumacher's fourth world drivers title should be sold at a contemporary art auction.

The 2001 Ferrari F1 car which won two Grands Prix, including the famous Monaco Grand Prix, and clinched the world drivers and constructors titles, will be sold at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction on November 16, 2017 in New York.

The car was curated (sourced) via RM-Sothebys, the world's most prominent and successful auction house for elite collectible cars, yet it was clearly a conscious decision to sell it at one of the world's most important contemporary art auctions instead.

The moment when Michael Schumacher won the 2001 Formula One title in THIS car. His win in the XVII Marlboro Magyar Nagydíj (17th Marlboro Hungarian Grand Prix) at the Hungaroring on August 19, 2001 gave him an unassailable lead in the championship with four races still to run.
Ferrari

RM-Sotheby's held auctions at all of the most prestigious collectible car events in 2017 such as the Monterey Car Week auctions in August and Ferrari-only 70th Anniversary Leggenda e Passione auction in Maranello, Italy, just two weeks ago.

Indeed, RM-Sothebys will hold its annual New York collectible car auction in the same venue just a few weeks after this car goes to auction, and all three of the above mentioned auctions have previously set world record prices for cars.

Michael Schumacher's F2001 Ferrari will go to auction at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction on November 16, 2017 in New York.
Sotheby's / Pawel Litwinski © 2017

That is, instead of it selling alongside Bugattis, Bentleys and other Ferraris, a car that was built by the world's most successful F1 constructor, by far the most valuable marque at auction, and driven by the world's most successful F1 racing driver will be sold in the company of artworks from Warhol, Basquiat, and Johns.

The decision to classify the Ferrari as contemporary art by the choice of sale venue is clearly heavily influenced by the state of the respective markets. The collectible car market is down from its peak of three years ago, while "Contemporary Art has emerged as the art market's primary locomotive" according to the recently released ArtPrice Contemporary Art Market Annual Report.

While collectible car aficionados have long regarded the subjects of their passion as works of art, they may be a little dismayed if the art market begins to think along similar lines as prices will undoubtedly skyrocket.

The figures are irrefutable, with contemporary art turnover having grown +1,400% in 17 years from US$103 million in 2000 to US$1.58 billion in 2017.

So strong is the contemporary art market (for works created by artists born after 1945) at present that the segment's record price of $58.4 million for a work by Jeff Koons in 2013, was eclipsed earlier this year by the $110.5 million fetched by a work by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Just which camp will score the Schumacher Ferrari will be watched with intense interest as it is unquestionably an Objet d'art, yet it is unprecedented in automotive auction history for such a recent championship winning car to reach auction.

With seven world F1 championships, Michael Schumacher is the most successful F1 racing driver in history.
Ferrari

The car equally qualifies as functional art, as the frighteningly powerful 3.0 litre V10 is unrestricted in its performance and eligible for historic racing, where winning would be a case of "pole putting."

Ferrari's Corse Clienti services for such a car would also mean that Ferrari would house, service and prepare the car in Maranello for its owner and transport it to any event in the world, offering the services of its F1 mechanics, and the instruction of the company's test drivers.

The car is expected to fetch "well in excess of $4 million" but if it is indeed recognized a contemporary art by the art market, the resulting price might shake the foundations of the collectible car industry, not to mention validate the Sotheby's and RM Sotheby's partnership which began in February 2015.

The car is on display until October 3 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre during Sotheby's Hong Kong Autumn Sales week, and is expected to be on display in New York well in advance of the Contemporary Art Evening Auction on November 16, 2017.

View gallery - 12 images
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