It was a good weekend for McLaren – our congratulations to Lando Norris and the team on a highly successful year and a Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship title for the Brit. RM Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi 2025 auction was also successful, with McLarens taking a leading role.
The big news was the above 1994 McLaren F1. First delivered to Brunei Royal Family before later calling the UK, US and Denmark home, it sported the later addition of the High Downforce Kit and the LM interior kit. Estimated at more than $21 million, it achieved just that – the final figure was $25,317,500.
RM Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi 2025 auction was also notable for the chance to buy three racing McLarens before they’d even been revealed, let alone seen track time (the picture above is of the 2025 F1 car). The star lot of what was called The Triple Crown collection was the chance to own the 2026 mount of either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri; estimated at $10m-$12m, it sold for $11.48m.
The same auction also saw the opportunity to acquire a 2027 McLaren WEC hypercar, which was estimated at $6m-$8m and sold for $7,598,750, and a 2026 Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team Dallara-Chevrolet DW12 that sold for $848,750 against a $500k-$700k estimate. A few questions hang in the air – firstly, what happens if the chassis is written off, and secondly, what happens if a rival manufacturer acquires a chassis, much like Mercedes-Benz did with a McLaren F1 in the production of the subsequently all-dominating CLK GTR in the 1990s?
Keeping to the spirt of the McLaren F1 via its architect Gordon Murray, RM Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi 2025 auction saw the first GMA T.50 to come up for auction publicly. The 35th of 100 built, it had covered 217km and was estimated at $5m-plus. It sold for $5.63m.
RM Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi 2025 auction also played host to a sale of some of the world’s most coveted hypercars. Prices were largely within expectations – the above 2006 Pagani Zonda Riviera, which has been completely rebuilt by Pagani as part of its UNICO programme, was estimated at $9.5m-$10.5m and sold for $10.13m. Elsewhere a 2015 Porsche 918 Weissach Spyder sold for $1.715m, a Singer 911 for $1,073,750, a 2019 McLaren Senna for $905k, a much-hyped 2006 Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster for $651,875 and a 2006 Ford GT for $612,500.
Although the McLarens were the key focus of the RM Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi 2025 auction, the sale was dominated by Maranello machines, with 13 up for grabs. The leading sale was the above 1990 Ferrari F40, which was first delivered to – but never driven by – the Scuderia’s F1 star Alain Prost. Estimated at between $3.2m and $3.7m, it sold for $3,886,250. It was the leading lot of the classic selection – it was only one of three cars (four if you include the aforementioned Singer) to be built pre-2000. The other offerings were a 1986 Ferrari Testarossa ‘Monospecchio’ that sold for $218,500, and a 1988 Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary, which went for $578,750.
But what of the new Ferraris at RM Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi 2025 auction? Of the 13 cars offered, just two didn’t sell – two variants of the controversial, electrically assisted SF90: one was a 2022 Stradale, the other a $1.5m-$1.9m-estimated 2024 SF90 XX Spider. The standard SF90s are proving hard to shift – in the UK alone there are 24 Stradales and 23 Spiders up for grabs via just one sales site. It wasn’t all bad for hybrid Ferraris, though – a 2014 LaFerrari sold for $3.38m.
The more traditionally engined Ferraris did better, with the above 2022 Monza SP2 selling for $2,536,250 against a $2.25m-$2.75m estimate. A 2023 812 Competizione sold for $1.355m, a 2015 F12tdf for $1,096,250, a 2015 458 Special Aperta for $933,125 and a 2011 599 GTO for $927,500.
One slight disappointment at the RM Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi 2025 auction came in the form of the above 2021 Bentley Bacalar, the fifth built out of a production run of 12. Estimated at between $900k-$1.3m, it landed just shy at $876,875. Elsewhere there were no sales for the 2016 Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG G700 6×6 by Brabus and one-of-five 2010 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 ‘Nocturne’.
Further reading
For more information on RM Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi 2025 auction, head here.
