A MERCEDES Formula 1 car raced to victory by Sir Lewis Hamilton is set to go under the hammer as part of the festivities around the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November.
The RM Sotheby’s event will take place on the Friday of the race meeting, with Hamilton’s Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 W04 from the 2013 season headlining the available lots so far.
Hamilton’s switch to Mercedes for 2013 marked the start of one of the most successful eras for any driver and team in Formula 1 history.
The arrival of the turbocharged hybrid V6 era in 2014 vaulted Mercedes from challengers to dominators; the team went on to claim eight consecutive Constructors’ titles and seven Drivers’ titles, six of which were earnt by Hamilton.
Of his 103 Grand Prix wins to date, 82 have been with Mercedes.
Their first win together came aboard the car that is up for auction, F1 W04-04, the team’s last triumph of the 2.4L V8 engine era.
It was in Chassis 4 that Hamilton made his race debut for Mercedes in the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.
He qualified the car third in a qualifying session that was split over Saturday and Sunday, following heavy rain that forced the Q2 and Q3 sessions to be postponed to race morning, and drove a steady race to fifth.
It seems strange now, but the sight of Hamilton in Mercedes colours took some getting used to following his long relationship with McLaren, dating back to his karting days and culminating in six seasons in F1 and a Drivers’ title in 2008.
It also took some getting used to for Hamilton, who famously drove into the McLaren pit bay out of habit during the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix.
He overcame the misstep to register his first podium finish for Mercedes behind the warring Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, for whom the Sepang event was infamous for their ‘Multi-21’ team orders exchange.
Less well remembered is that Mercedes was having its own team orders issues over third place, which Nico Rosberg ceded to Hamilton during the final stint after intervention from team principal Ross Brawn.
Per the listing, Hamilton drove Chassis 4 in 14 of the 19 races across the 2013 season, including to victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
After pipping Vettel to pole position at the Hungaroring, Hamilton drove a faultless race to stave off the eventual world champion’s challenge, including a decisive pass on former teammate Jenson Button while his Red Bull rival remained trapped behind the McLaren for a further 12 laps.
However, it was the last win for anyone other than Vettel and Red Bull for the remainder of the season, the German racking up nine wins in a row after the summer break to take his fourth consecutive world championship.
Hamilton and Mercedes faded in the second half of the season as it switched full focus to its 2014 car – a decision that paid off in spades for the next few years.
The Las Vegas auction marks the first time a W04 has been sold into private hands by Mercedes, and is expected to fetch US$10-15 million (AU$15.86-23.78m).
Click HERE for the full listing with RM Sotheby’s.
