A Honda NSX once owned by three-time Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton Senna sold for £871,250 (about $1.169 million) at RM Sotheby’s The London Auction. The sale has drawn attention to other notable road cars linked to F1 figures, from Niki Lauda’s Ferrari to Daniel Ricciardo’s Aston Martin Valkyrie.

Senna’s connection with Honda began in 1987, and he later offered feedback during the NSX’s development. The red car was registered in Portugal in March 1991 and made available to him for personal use when he was in the country. He drove it to that year’s Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril, and it later appeared in the 1992 documentary *Ayrton Senna: Racing Is In My Blood*. Photographs of Senna washing the car also gave it the nickname “hosepipe car.”

Another Ferrari-linked story belongs to Lauda. After signing for the Scuderia ahead of the 1974 season, he became the first owner of a 1973 Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2 by Pininfarina. The silver car was later taken to Austria, but reported import costs led Lauda to sell it in 1975. It was repainted metallic red in the 1980s and, after being returned to roadworthy condition in 2025, sold for €201,250 at an RM Sotheby’s auction in Munich.

Daniel Ricciardo’s 2023 Aston Martin Valkyrie was another high-profile lot. Developed by Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing, with Adrian Newey playing a key role, the car was commissioned by Ricciardo as chassis 089. Finished in “Badger Blue,” a reference to his “Honey Badger” nickname, it had covered 160 kilometres and sold for €2.12 million at the Zoute Concours Auction. It was one of 150 Valkyrie coupes produced.

A 1995 McLaren F1, chassis 044, has also been linked to Lewis Hamilton. It sold for $15.62 million at Bonhams’ Quail Lodge Auction in 2017. Bonhams did not name the buyer, but the car was later associated with Hamilton after he was reportedly seen driving it in California. Chassis 044 was the 37th road-going McLaren F1 built, the first imported into the United States and the first made fully road legal there.

Fernando Alonso has sold several cars from his collection at auction. In 2023, his 2002 Ferrari Enzo, chassis number one, sold for £4.5 million. Alonso had driven it for 4,800 kilometres. He also sold a 2022 McLaren Elva, one of 149 produced; its number, 114, echoed his racing number 14, and the sale included a promise that Alonso would hand the keys to the buyer.

Michael Schumacher’s 1996 Ferrari F355 GTS went to auction with his large signature on the back of the driver’s seat. Ferrari gave Schumacher the “Blu Le Mans” car after he joined the team from Benetton. Its service book records delivery to a Ferrari dealership on 30 April 1996.

Not every vehicle tied to a champion was a supercar. Jenson Button used a 50cc Honda SZX50 moped in BAR-Honda colours to get around the paddock during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. After being given away as a competition prize, it sold at the Goodwood Festival of Speed for £2,990. More than two decades later, with 415 miles on the clock, it returned to auction and sold for £5,040.

Sources: Formula 1.