F1 News: Lewis Hamilton's First Championship Win Mercedes To Be Auctioned At Las Vegas
Lewis Hamilton's W04 was his first race-winning Mercedes which he drove at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix. After ten years, the car will be auctioned in Las Vegas ahead of the Grand Prix in mid-November.
This would be the first Mercedes F1 car driven by Hamilton to be offered for sale to the public. Numbers suggest that the car could be sold for a whopping figure between £8.2-12.4 million. Hamilton's McLaren MP4-25A went for just £4.8m in 2021.
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RM Sotheby’s global head of private sales Shelby Myers stated the importance of the Mercedes W04 and the value the precious car holds.
"In the world of automotive greatness, few marques match the allure of the Mercedes Silver Arrows.
The Mercedes W196, which sold for $29.6million, remains the most valuable Formula 1 car ever sold. However, it's the Mercedes-Benz Uhlenhaut Coupe that fetched $ 142 million, cementing the Silver Arrows' place in history books as one of the world's most valuable and recognisable brands.
Now, adding to the legacy of the Silver Arrows, we introduce the W04 – a car whose significance cannot be overstated.
Driven by Formula 1's most successful driver and sporting icon, Lewis Hamilton, this car delivered his very first win in a Mercedes F1 car, signalling the beginning of the marque's most dominant period: the Hamilton-Mercedes dynasty.
This pairing can only be compared to Jordan and the Bulls, Brady and the Patriots, or Messi and Argentina.
Given the unparalleled lineage and being the sole example outside of Mercedes' origination publicly available, the pairing of Lewis and the W04 elevates it beyond just a Formula 1 car.
This undeniable piece could emerge as one of the most coveted collectibles in the foreseeable future."
For Mercedes, Hamilton's 2013 Grand Prix win marked his first of the 82 epic wins for the Brackley outfit. For Hamilton though, it was his 22nd Grand Prix victory. Fast forward ten years and you still find the 38-year-old driver in the same team today, having bagged seven world titles in total.
Though not on form in the last two years, courtesy of the Mercedes W13 and W14 cars for slowing him down, Hamilton's contract with the team was extended by another two years. This indicates that the British driver isn't going anywhere without putting in a tough fight against Red Bull in a car that should be much more capable next year.
