In Abu Dhabi, RM Sotheby’s and McLaren Are Putting a Trio of Unraced Competition Cars on the Block

<img decoding="async" class="lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1603352" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-src="https://observer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/McLaren_2.png?w=970" alt="Three orange and black racecars" width="970" height="546" data-caption='McLaren Racing’s collaboration with Sotheby’s introduces a trio of unique, as-yet-unveiled competition cars at this year&#8217;s Collectors’ Week sale. <span class=”lazyload media-credit”>Courtesy Sotheby&#039;s RM</span>’>

Formula 1 fans take note. As part of the auction house’s debut in Abu Dhabi, Sotheby’s RM has partnered with McLaren Racing to offer a trio of as-yet-unveiled and unraced competition cars in its inaugural Collectors’ Week sales. On Friday evening (Dec. 5), $150 million in luxury lots will go on the block across five auctions, featuring several standout collectibles: Jane Birkin’s Le Birkin Voyageur, a set of four Patek Philippe pocket watches expected to fetch more than $20 million, a teardrop-shaped orangy-pink diamond with a high estimate of $7 million and the McLarens, among other rarities. Another $100 million in fine art and luxury collectibles are scheduled to sell privately.

The three racecars, which will be sold in an auction of 32 exceptional automobiles expected to surpass a total value of $78 million, include a 2026 McLaren Formula 1 Team car (est. $10-20 million), a 2027 McLaren United AS racer (est. $6-8 million) and an Arrow McLaren IndyCar (est. $500,000-700,000). The first has yet to be unveiled to the public. The buyer will take delivery of the car, which will be driven by Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri during next year’s FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, in 2028. Until then, the buyer can take advantage of a 2025 show car offered on lease and a tour of the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. The United AS racer, meanwhile, is McLaren’s first LMDh hypercar from its debut season in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and the IndyCar will be driven by Pato O’Ward in the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 in May 2026. Buyers of all three will enjoy special behind-the-scenes access with McLaren Racing and associated events.

But there’s more. The top lot in the sale, with a high estimate of $21 million, is a 1994 McLaren F1: chassis 014, one of just 64 road-spec F1s produced and, in this writer’s opinion, one of the greatest cars of all time. Initially painted a bright shade of Titanium Yellow and tagged with Michael Schumacher’s signature, it was owned by the Brunei Royal Family before being purchased by a repeat F1 owner and later a New York car collector, who had it refitted with an Iris White livery and the High-Downforce Kit and otherwise refurbished to the tune of $500,000. Following the repaint in 2007, the car was signed by ex-McLaren driver Sir Lewis Hamilton.

Other standout lots in the sale include a 2006 Pagani Zonda Riviera with a high estimate of $10.5 million, a 2025 Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 with an estimate in excess of $ million and several Ferraris in the $2.7-3.7 million range. To complement the live auction, RM Sotheby’s is presenting, for exhibition only, a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR racer (chassis 00010/55) on loan from the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart—an automobile in the family of 300 SLRs that includes the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, which made headlines in 2022 when it sold for €135,000,000, becoming the most valuable car ever sold at auction.