P1racenews AI automatic summary:
McLaren sell 2026 car in historic £8.5 MILLION auction
McLaren’s 2026 F1 challenger was sold at auction for around £8.5 million before it hit the track, making it the sixth-most expensive F1 car ever sold at auction.
The buyer will receive the chassis in early 2028 but was also offered a replica of McLaren’s 2025 chassis before that.
The 2026 MCL40A is expected to be a historical car due to the major regulations overhaul in that season, following McLaren’s championship double in 2025, with Lando Norris as the drivers’ champion.
The buyer of the McLaren F1 car will have the opportunity to meet team executives and drivers in Woking before the 2026 season, and may potentially own a championship-winning car if McLaren replicates their success from the previous year.
Despite the car not even hitting the track yet, the high price fetched at auction indicates the value attached to owning a piece of F1 history.
The record for the most expensive F1 car sold at auction remains with the 1954 Mercedes W196R Streamliner, which sold for £42.7 million in 2025.
