Michael Schumacher’s 1998 Ferrari F300 race car up for sale, priced at $49 lakh

Michael Schumacher's 1998 Ferrari F300 Formula One race car is up for sale, at an asking price of $49 lakh, which is equivalent to more than ₹37.22 crore at the current exchange rate. This is the car that the legendary world champion driver used to grab the second position in Luxemburg Grand Prix and DNF in Japan GP. In the 1998 season, Schumacher lost the F1 World Championship in the Suzuka showdown to McLaren's Mika Hakkinen.

During that race, Schumacher qualified for pole position, but his race went wrong before the start when he stalled on the formation lap, resulting in him starting at the tail of the grid.

Schumacher was able to storm his way through the pack and was running third when he ran over debris from a previous collision between two other race cars. This resulted in Schumacher's Ferrari F300's tyre deflated three laps later, allowing Hakkinen to cruise to his first Formula One World Championship title.

After losing the first position to McLaren and Hakkinen, Schumacher said that “First of all I want to congratulate Mika Hakkinen and his team. They performed better throughout the season and so they deserve the title. I think we did not lose this championship in Suzuka, but in the early stages of the season, when we were too far behind."

He also said that he wasn't disappointed. “The engine stalled because the clutch did not free itself and I do not know why. All the work this weekend was then wasted as I had to start from the back," the legendary driver said further adding, “The first couple of laps were good fun. All the other drivers were very fair and did not try and make life difficult for me. I did not expect a rear tyre to explode as I had problems with a flat-spotted front, which caused a lot of vibration."