Kimi Räikkönen’s 2006 McLaren Formula 1 car is going on auction

Bonhams Cars has announced the offering of Kimi Räikkönen’s 2006 McLaren MP4/21 Formula 1 car — famously the car he abandoned in Monte Carlo when it stopped with technical issues, ambling off to spend the rest of the race aboard his yacht in Monaco’s harbour instead of returning to the pits.

The car will be sold at the On The Grid auction — the official auction partner of the Formula 1 Paddock Club — to be staged during the 2023 season-closing race at the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit on November 25.

Räikkönen had Adrian Newey as the team’s technical director and Juan Pablo Montoya as teammate at the time. He left team McLaren at the end of the 2006 season to join Ferrari, a move that resulted in the Finn taking the 2007 Drivers World Championship title.

The car is powered by a 2.4l naturallyaspirated Mercedes V8 engine developing 552kW at 19,000rpm. The chrome liveried MP4/21 chassis ‘02’ never got to win a race but Kimi racked up a few podium finishes.

He was second in Australia and famously delivered a podium finish at the opening race in Bahrain, racing through the field after starting 22nd and last on the grid after crashing in qualifying.

Since making its final Grand Prix appearance at Magny-Cours for the French Grand Prix in July 2006, chassis 02 has been extensively restored by McLaren and remained within the company’s heritage collection until being sold to its current owner in 2021.

It’s estimated the car is valued at $2.5m —$3.5m (R47m-R66m) and will be joined at the auction by Mario Andretti’s title-winning 1978 John Player Special Lotus-Cosworth Type 79 estimated at $6.5m-$9.5m (R123m-R179m.) 

Full details can be found here.