RM Sotheby’s is thrilled to offer the most successful Ferrari Formula 1 car utilized during the 1998 Formula One World Championship season, piloted to four victories at the hands of one of the world’s greatest drivers, Michael Schumacher.
On 7 January 1998, Ferrari invited over 800 journalists to Maranello to preview its new Formula 1 car, which was dubbed the F300. The latest Ferrari challenger employed a new 3.0-liter V-10 engine and featured a maximum engine speed of 17,500 rpm, producing 800 horsepower. The F300 would see continued development and fine-tuning during the 1998 season. However, there can be absolutely no doubt among racing historians that the design’s efficient aerodynamics and well-balanced V-10 powerplant were the true foundation of the Scuderia’s incoming millennial domination of the Formula One world.
The Ferrari F300, specifically chassis 187, took its first of four stunning race victories at the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal’s Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve. Schumacher and chassis 187 claimed victory along with the fastest lap with a massive 16-second lead off the runner-up. Schumacher and chassis 187 continued their successful relationship at the next two races, scoring victories in France and Britain. With these three consecutive victories, Scuderia Ferrari vaulted back up in the standings and into serious contention against McLaren-Mercedes for both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles. A few weeks after the winning streak, Schumacher scored his 33rd career win behind the wheel of chassis 187 when he crossed the finish line at the Italian Grand Prix.
Eminently rare and forever tied to one of racing’s all-time greatest legends, the extraordinary Michael Schumacher, 187 is without a doubt one of the most significant Ferrari F1 cars in existence, being the only undefeated chassis to run at least three races. The Scuderia retained chassis 187 until September 1999, when it was then sold directly and privately to the previous owner in the same race-used condition in which it remains today, and in their 23 years of ownership, chassis 187 has been remarkably preserved as it has never been restored or altered from its as-raced condition. It remained shielded from the public during this time and will be publicly offered for sale in Monterey for the first time in its history—providing an unrepeatable opportunity