Remote-controlled Ferrari expected to break auction records
A 1:3 scale model of the F1 car that Michael Schumacher drove to his 2002 World Championship victory is going under the hammer at the U.K. motor racing track of Silverstone, U.K., July 1, 2024. (DPA Photo)


A remote-controlled car is expected to fetch more than a quarter of a million pounds at auction to become the "most expensive" in the world, according to experts.

The vehicle, which has a top speed of just under 80 kph (50 mph), is a scale model of the Ferrari F2002 driven by Michael Schumacher when he became Formula One world champion in 2002 and is a third of its size.

The car will be auctioned with a guide price of 200,000 pounds ($253,000) at the U.K.’s Whittlebury Park, Silverstone, along with 60 other items of motor racing memorabilia on Thursday, three days before the British Grand Prix.

A 1:3 scale model of the F1 car that Michael Schumacher drove to his 2002 World Championship victory is going under the hammer at the U.K. motor racing track of Silverstone, U.K., July 1, 2024. (DPA Photo)

Schumacher signed the rear spoiler of the remote-controlled car when he visited Atelier Mediatech in Switzerland, where it was made.

David Convery, head of sporting memorabilia at Graham Budd Auctions, is hosting the auction with The Race and is called the car a "feat of mechanical genius."

"This is a genuine work of art which took a team of expert engineers three years and 1,000 hours to create," he said.

"The car’s top speed is 80 kph, so whoever owns it next will certainly need a good-sized garden if they plan to test it out," Convery said.

"With the auction taking place just days before the British Grand Prix and yards away from the pit lane at Silverstone, we’re expecting to see some big bids on these items from all over the world."

Other items expected to be auctioned include race suits worn by F1 champions Schumacher, Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel.