F1 legends' cars that sold at auction after Senna's Honda sells for over $1m

A Honda NSX once owned by three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna has sold for £871,250 (approximately $1,169,000 USD) at auction in London, more than three decades after the Brazilian drove the car during his Formula 1 career.

Senna’s NSX is far from the only road car with an illustrious Formula 1 connection to go under the hammer. From Ferraris, McLarens and more – F1 drivers past and present have owned some extraordinary machinery away from the track.

Here are some of the most eye-catching examples.

Senna’s special Honda

Senna's relationship with Honda began during his time at Lotus in 1987, before he joined the Honda-powered McLaren team the following season and claimed his first World Championship.

We've all seen the famous footage: Senna, white socks and loafers on, working the pedals of the Honda NSX as he attacks Suzuka. But the Brazilian's association with the NSX went much deeper than simply driving one, with the three-time World Champion providing feedback during its development and perhaps becoming the most famous name associated with the NSX.

By the start of 1991, Senna was a two-time World Champion and, under an agreement with Honda, had access to an NSX for his personal use. The red example was registered in Portugal in March that year, stored in Lisbon and delivered to the F1 great whenever he was in the country.

Senna drove the car to that year's Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril. It later appeared in the 1992 documentary Ayrton Senna: Racing Is In My Blood and also became known as the 'hosepipe' car, thanks to famous photographs of the Brazilian washing it himself.

More than 35 years after it was registered, the NSX sold at RM Sotheby's The London Auction for £871,250.

Lauda’s welcome gift from Ferrari

After signing for Ferrari ahead of the 1974 season, Niki Lauda was given something rather special to drive away from the track, a 1973 Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2 by Pininfarina. Completed at the Maranello factory in December 1973, Lauda became its first owner as his fruitful relationship started with the Scuderia – a partnership that would later bring him two World Championships.

Originally finished in silver – otherwise known as Argento Metallizzato – the Ferrari was initially registered on Italian 'tourist' plates, with Lauda later taking the car home to Austria. But there was a problem – reportedly high import costs meant keeping it in the country was going to prove expensive, and he eventually parted ways with the car in 1975.

From there, Lauda's Ferrari passed through the hands of several Austrian owners and was repainted in its current metallic red during the 1980s. Underneath, though, it retained that same raucous 4.4-litre V12 engine and five-speed manual gearbox that it had during Lauda's ownership.

After spending some time in storage, the car was returned to roadworthy condition in 2025 before appearing at RM Sotheby's Munich auction, where it sold for €201,250.

Ricciardo’s remarkable Valkyrie

After departing Formula 1, Daniel Ricciardo put one of the most striking cars from his private collection up for sale – a pristine 2023 Aston Martin Valkyrie.

Described as “one of the greatest hypercars of recent years”, the Valkyrie was developed jointly by Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing, with Adrian Newey playing a key role. Ricciardo, who was racing for Red Bull when the project began, later commissioned chassis number 089 to his own specification.

“It feels like a race car and it looks like a race car,” said Ricciardo. “I'm not used to having a roof over my head, but that's the only thing that really feels different, otherwise, it's a pretty straight-up race car.”

The car was finished in ‘Badger Blue’ – a neat link to Ricciardo’s ‘Honey Badger’ nickname – and had covered just 160km, having spent much of its life in his private collection.

One of only 150 Valkyrie coupes produced, it was offered by Broad Arrow Auctions at the Zoute Concours Auction, eventually selling for €2.12 million.

Hamilton’s #44 Chassis

Lewis Hamilton has assembled an enviable collection of cars. At Monza, he arrived in a recently recommissioned Ferrari F40 and revealed that technicians had discovered the number 44 stamped on its engine block. But that is not the only supercar linking Hamilton to his racing number.

Hamilton is widely reported to own a 1995 McLaren F1, chassis 044, which sold for $15.62 million at the Bonhams Quail Lodge Auction in 2017. Although Bonhams did not identify the buyer, the car was later linked to Hamilton after he was reportedly seen driving the silver McLaren in California.

The number is only part of the car’s remarkable history. The 37th road-going F1 built, chassis 044 was also the first imported into the United States and the first to be made fully road legal there.

The story of the McLaren F1 began in 1988, when Gordon Murray, Ron Dennis, Mansour Ojjeh and Creighton Brown discussed building the ultimate road car following McLaren’s dominant 15-win Formula 1 season. The result combined a central driving position and naturally aspirated V12 with ground-breaking carbon-fibre construction, helping make it one of the defining performance cars of its generation.

For many young car fans growing up in the 1990s, the McLaren F1 was the ultimate bedroom-wall poster car – and decades later, its appeal has hardly diminished.

Alonso’s car archive

Fernando Alonso certainly boasts an impressive garage, based on the cars he’s recently bought – including a super rare aluminum-bodied Bugatti Veyron – but he’s also cleared out space in his collection having sold several cars at auction over the years.

Back in 2023, the two-time champion opted to sell his Ferrari Enzo, but it wasn’t just any red Ferrari. Alonso previously owned Chassis No. 1 and completed just 4,800km in this 2002 machine. As well as also driving for the Scuderia during his time in F1, this was a big money item at auction and sold for £4,500,000.

He also sold his 2022 McLaren Elva, which was limited to a production of just 149 machines. Car number 114 was a nod to his race number 14, and sold with the promise that Alonso himself would pass the keys over to the successful buyer.

A seat signed by Schumacher

Michael Schumacher’s 1996 Ferrari F355 GTS came up for auction a few years ago, complete with a huge signature from the seven-time World Champion on the back of the driver’s seat.

Having joined Ferrari for the 1996 season, after winning two titles with Benetton, the Scuderia gave their new driver a road car – a F355 GTS. Featuring a ‘Blu Le Mans’ paint job, the service book shows that it was delivered to a Ferrari dealership on 30 April 1996, which would have been days after Schumacher's second place at that season’s European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

The F355 changed hands several times before finding its way to a motoring journalist, who later spoke to Schumacher about the car at the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix.

Jenson Button’s paddock scooter

Not every vehicle associated with an F1 World Champion needs heaps of horsepower. Long before Jenson Button claimed the 2009 title, the Briton could be seen navigating the Grand Prix paddock on something rather more modest: a Honda SZX50 moped.

Finished in full BAR-Honda colours, the 50cc machine served as Button’s personal paddock transport during the 2003 and 2004 seasons, before being given away as a competition prize and subsequently sold at the Goodwood Festival of Speed for £2,990.

More than two decades later, Button’s former runaround returned to the auction block with a mere 415 miles on the clock.

Still bearing a few marks from its paddock life, it sold for £5,040 – almost twice the amount it fetched back in 2004.