Michael Schumacher's Old Benetton F1 Car Is Going To Auction With No Reserve

F1 cars rarely appear on the market, and when they do, they’re usually missing the all-important engine. So imagine our excitement when we spotted this complete Benetton-Ford B191/191B from the 1991 and 1992 seasons.

And better still, this beautiful yellow-liveried machine was driven by none other than Michael Schumacher, Nelson Piquet and Martin Brundle.

Now for some stats. The car’s 3.5-litre Ford V8 engine produces 730bhp and revs up to 13,800rpm. It comes with a Benetton-made, six-speed gearbox and is liveried in the same colour scheme Schumacher used for the 1992 Mexican Grand Prix, where he scored his first ever F1 podium.

So here’s a bit about the car’s history. It made its debut at the 1991 Hungarian Grand Prix, driven by three-time champion Piquet. He retired with gearbox troubles but finished fifth at the next appearance for chassis number six, the Portuguese Grand Prix. He then claimed 11th and seventh in Spain and Japan, before competing in his final F1 race with the car in Australia, where he was classified fourth after the rain-hit event was red flagged.

Benetton opted to keep the car for the first few fly-away rounds of 1992, updating it to the B191B. Chassis six was used by Brundle at the season opener in South Africa, before it was handed to the impressive rookie Schumacher for the next two rounds in Mexico and Brazil. He finished third in both races, the first of many podiums.

The cars that’s going under the hammer is ready to race and has been kept in tip-top condition by the consignor’s specialist race preparation company.

Chassis six is expected to sell for between £180,000-230,000 by Bonhams without reserve, when it goes up for auction in Monaco next month.

So what do you say: shall we all just chip in a little and have CT’s first ever F1 car?