Think of fast sports cars and driver. The one name which immediately comes to mind is Michael Schumacher and Formula One Ferrari.
That Formula One Ferrari which made Michael Schumacher a household name is going to come under the hammer.
International auctioneer Southeby has announced the auction of Ferrari F1-2000, Chassis 198, as part of its sale to celebrate 50 years of Sotheby’s in Asia, in Hong Kong, between April 3 – 12.
Schumacher remained world champion from 2000 to 2004 by winning Formula One World Drivers’ Championships five times back-to-back.
Some credit of his win definitely goes to the Technical Director Ross Brawn’ engineering skills that helped create the unbeatable Formula One Ferrari.
Ross Brown played a vital role in the sport of FormulaF1 for four decades. He was behind 16 constructor’s and driver’s world titles.
Ross Brown spotted Michael Schumacher’s extraordinary driving skills and tied up with him for many successful races. Ross Brown later also became the Managing Director of Formula One.
A significant role was also played in the team by car engineer and designer South African Rory Byrne who was keen on motor sport.
The cars designed by him have won ninety-nine Grands Prix, making him one of the most successful Formula One designers.
The 1998 Formula 1 car was Byrne’s first design, and the following year the team took the constructors’ crown.
In 2000, Schumacher became the first Ferrari driver.
Formula One’s success was helped by the state of the art wind tunnel and unlimited testing which perfected the car’s performance.
In 2004 season, Formula One secured 15 victories from 18 races. What was more Schumacher himself as the driver won 13 of them.
Bryne’s mantra for success was not to bring in some fancy equipment from outside but dedicatedly trying to evolve the existing vehicle by looking at each of its part in detail and improving wherever possible. Thus, trying to slowly change the vehicle bit by bit to take the best out of it.
Bryne was very hard-working with high work ethics and preferred drawing board over any computer aided design .
He created the legendary Ferrari F1-2000 which created benchmark as far as its engineering and performance is concerned.
It had the latest aerodynamics and a redesigned 90-degree V-10 engine that allowed engineers to lower the car’s centre of gravity.
Ross Brawn felt it was the “best car” made by the group. The F1-2000 won in 11 grand prix.
Chassis 198, proved vital to the success of Schumacher’s Championship-winning 2000 season.
In Monte Carlo this car and Schumacher again won which was the last time for Schumacher in a Ferrari at Monaco.
Once chassis 198’s Ferrari’s career had drawn to a close, in March of 2001, it was displayed at the Geneva Motor Show on Ferrari’s stand.
It was sold to Ferrari collector Kevin Crowder of Texas. The present owner got the vehicle from Crowder which is clearly one of the cars from the golden periods of Formula One.
| Posted by Sameer Khan | 
