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Kimi Raikkonen’s Abandoned Beast & Mario Andretti’s Championship Winner Estimated to Fetch $13M in Legendary Auction

Published 08/12/2023, 5:00 AM EDT

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via Imago

Despite being the peak of motorsport and technology, F1 cars aren’t only about aerodynamics or the engine, they are so much more than that. There are so many feelings and emotions related to any specific car. A person gets to relive and get up close and personal with those memories of seeing that car over and over again. For the same reason, $13 million is the price that is estimated to be fetched for Kimi Raikkonen’s abandoned beast and Mario Andretti’s championship winner. 

The F1 cars don’t have any luxury functions built into them, not any other fancy stuff. It is just a hardcore racing machine, yet is worth millions of dollars. A recent revelation suggested that Kimi Raikkonen’s 2006 F1 challenger McLaren MP4/21 will be going up for auction at the on-the-grid auction, F1 paddock club’s official auction partner. Mario Andretti’s 1978 Championship-winning 1978 John Player Special Lotus-Cosworth Type 79.

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It’ll be the same MP4/21 that Kimi Raikkonen abandoned at the Monaco GP after a technical issue. Rather than going back to the garage, Raikkonen straight away went to a yacht and spent the rest of the race there. The MP4/21 is powered by a 2.4L V8 that pushes to 19,000 RPM and was designed by aerodynamic legend Adrian Newey and his team. Mario Andretti’s Lotus will also be auctioned as the only car that the F1 Legend won a championship in. 

Businesslive.co.za believes that the MP4/21 will be sold for $2.5M-$3.5M whereas the Lotus can fetch up to $9.5M. A total of $13 million is estimated to be fetched from both cars. We don’t know who the owners of the cars would be but Sebastian Vettel has shown us that these old F1 cars aren’t just showpieces.

Sebastian Vettel drives Ayrton Senna’s car around Goodwood

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Last year, before retiring from F1, Sebastian Vettel bought Nigel Mansell’s championship-winning FW14B. At this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the 4X world champion took two of his personally owned F1 cars for a joyride around Goodwood. One of them was the recently bought FW14B while the other one was the legendary MP4/8 driven by Ayrton Senna. 

via Reuters

Both the cars were running on e-fuels as Vettel wanted to put across a message that even high-performance cars can be run on sustainable fuel. Vettel even did some burnouts in both cars. Vettel portrayed a true example of what these cars are meant for and not just to sit in the garage and be looked at.

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Written by:

Pranay Bhagi

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Pranay Bhagi is an F1 writer at EssentiallySports, who has always been passionate about sports and writing. With a degree from a prestigious institute, he has channeled his enthusiasm into sports journalism, particularly F1, a sport that has captivated him for over a decade. Pranay's deep-rooted love for the sport began during the Sebastian Vettel era, and he has been following it religiously ever since.
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Edited by:

Aishwary Gaonkar