By Alan Baldwin
LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - McLaren are selling five fully-functioning Formula One cars driven by champions, including Lewis Hamilton and the late Brazilian Ayrton Senna, with one also tested by Hollywood actor Brad Pitt.
The cars, to be sold through high-end dealer Tom Hartley Jr. and expected to raise tens of millions of dollars, will be prepared by the reigning constructors' champions for their next owners.
Hartley Jr. also sold the collection of former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone
and 20 road cars belonging to the late McLaren co-owner Mansour Ojjeh.
"We have decided to part with these iconic McLaren Formula One cars because we feel that having them simply sitting in storage is a disservice to what they represent," McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said in a statement on Sunday.
"These cars were built to be driven and raced, and we want to see them being used and enjoyed. We believe that is the best way to keep our history alive and our heritage business active."
PITT DROVE ONE AFTER FILMING F1 MOVIE
The five span 32 years of McLaren history, starting with two MP4/6A cars (chassis numbers 04 and 07 with Honda V12 engines) raced by Austrian Gerhard Berger and tested by Senna during the 1991 title-winning campaign.
Chassis 04 finished second in a one-two at the San Marino Grand Prix with the McLarens lapping the entire field. Chassis 07 came second at McLaren's home British Grand Prix. Both have been in McLaren's possession ever since.
A 2012 McLaren MP4/27A (chassis 01) raced by 2009 world champion Jenson Button and tested by seven-times world champion Hamilton is also for sale.
Two cars raced exclusively by reigning champion Lando Norris in 2021 and 2023 complete the group.
The 2021 McLaren MCL35M took Norris to the podium in Imola, Monaco and Monza while the 2023 MCL37A-03 won successive races in Singapore and Japan and was tested post-season by a roster of drivers including Norris's teammate Oscar Piastri and Mick Schumacher, son of F1 great Michael.
The 2023 McLaren was driven by Pitt in a private test at Austin's Circuit of the Americas in June last year in connection with his starring role in "F1 the Movie" and is the most modern F1 car offered for sale to a private owner. Pitt reportedly took it up to a speed of 197mph (317kph).
"It is incredibly rare for a collector to have the opportunity to acquire race-driven Grand Prix cars directly from the manufacturer and team that built and campaigned them, and that makes this a very special offering," said Hartley.
"These five cars will be offered individually and there is no time pressure whatsoever. Our priority, and McLaren’s, is to find the right homes for them."
Although no prices were given, they are expected to range from 5 million pounds ($6.7 million) to as much as 10 million.
A McLaren MP4-25A raced by Hamilton to victory in Turkey in 2010 sold for 4.8 million pounds in 2021 while a winning 2001 Ferrari raced by Michael Schumacher fetched $7.5 million in New York in 2017.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
