F1Weekly Podcast # 1170

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…

MAX IN THE LAST 25 MINUTES GOES FROM 24 TO P9 BUT…PENALTIES KILLED THEIR CHANCES

LANDO MOCKING OTHER DRIVERS IS WRONG!

LIAM LAWSON GOES COUNTRY IN AUSTIN AND …

FERNANDO SAYS…WERE BACK TO GP 2 GP2 ENGINE AHH.

THIS WEEK'S NASIR HAMEED CORNER... INTERVIEW WITH TWO F1 WORLD CHAMPIONS…LANDO. NORRIS AND MARIO ANDRETTI!

AND YES WE DO NEED YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO KEEP THIS PROGRAM ON THE AIR, JUST CLICK ON THE SUPPORT F1WEEKLY TAB YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.

Mercedes praises Verstappen’s final stint: 'Without that small incident would have been way more possible'

Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing, is incredibly proud of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport's season. The German manufacturer ended the GT World Challenge Europe season with three titles and a victory in the final race. Max Verstappen's participation was also a major highlight for Mercedes.

Now that the GT World Challenge Europe season is over, Mercedes can look back on it with satisfaction. The team is taking no fewer than three titles back to Affalterbach: the overall drivers' championship in the Endurance Cup, the overall teams' championship in the Endurance Cup, and the overall drivers' titles in both the Sprint Cup and the Endurance Cup. To top it all off, the #17 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 won the race in Portugal.

For Fabian Schiller, Ralf Aron and Maxi Götz, it was a victory they had waited a long time for. Wendl believes Verstappen Racing could have achieved more if they had not received a drive-through penalty. "It's always nice and actually not only for us as a brand, as a great owner, to have him that he chose us as his family to be here in the GT Sport with his team," Wendl told GPblog after the race in Portimão.

Tom Hartley Jnr Ltd announces the sale of five extraordinary McLaren Formula 1 cars.

From Ayrton Senna’s and Gerhard Berger’s championship-winning MP4/6As to Lando Norris’s 2023 MCL37A, the most modern Formula 1 car ever offered for private ownership.

18 October, 2026 — Oxfordshire, United Kingdom — Tom Hartley Jnr Ltd, one of the world’s most respected and exclusive high-end dealers in classic and historic sports cars and racing cars, is delighted to announce the offering for sale of five highly significant McLaren Formula 1 cars, each being presented directly by McLaren Racing and carrying exceptional provenance from the highest levels of Grand Prix competition.

Spanning 32 years of McLaren history in Formula 1, the collection brings together cars driven by some of the greatest names in motorsport, including Ayrton Senna, Gerhard Berger, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, and Lando Norris, and represents a rare opportunity to acquire genuine works McLaren Grand Prix machinery directly from the team responsible for creating and campaigning it. The five cars are:

• 1991 McLaren MP4/6A, Chassis #04

• 1991 McLaren MP4/6A, Chassis #07

• 2012 McLaren MP4/27A, Chassis #01

• 2021 McLaren MCL35M, Chassis #01

• 2023 McLaren MCL37A, Chassis #03

The five cars are offered individually, having each remained in the custody of McLaren since its final period of competition, and will all be prepared by McLaren for their next owner/s.

The cars represent a significant chapter in McLaren’s history and tell an extraordinary story of technological and sporting evolution - from the naturally aspirated Honda V12 of Senna and Berger, to the naturally aspirated V8 era of Button and Hamilton, and the turbo-hybrid generation and the emergence of Norris as McLaren’s latest World Champion.

Each car has remained within the McLaren organisation following its racing career, meaning that its history, identity, and provenance remain intrinsically connected to the factory team that designed, built, and raced it. For the new custodian, that also provides an exceptional and unrivalled level of authenticity.

The five McLaren Formula 1 cars are now available for acquisition through Tom Hartley Jnr.

Zak Brown (Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Racing) said:

“We have decided to part with these iconic McLaren Formula One cars because we feel that having them simply sitting in storage is a disservice to what they represent. These cars were built to be driven and raced, and we want to see them being used and enjoyed. We believe that is the best way to keep our history alive and our heritage business active.

“Tom Hartley Jnr is the person we have entrusted to handle the sale. Few people understand the Formula One car market as well as Tom does, and nobody is more active within it today. We were also very impressed by the way he handled the sale of the Ecclestone Grand Prix Collection, and McLaren has worked with him successfully for many years.”

Tom Hartley Jnr said:

“I’m very excited to bring this opportunity to market. It is incredibly rare for a collector to have the opportunity to acquire race-driven Grand Prix cars directly from the manufacturer and team that built and campaigned them, and that makes this a very special offering.

“We have a great relationship with McLaren and have worked closely with Zak and his team for many years, assisting them with a number of sales. However, to now be able to publicly offer these cars directly on McLaren’s behalf is very exciting, and I’m personally looking forward to finding great homes for them.

“When we handled the sales of both the Ecclestone Grand Prix Collection and the Ojjeh Collection, there was significant interest in acquiring individual cars, but ultimately both collections were sold in their entirety to single buyers. There is of course every possibility that the same could happen here. However, these five cars will be offered individually and there is no time pressure whatsoever. Our priority, and McLaren’s, is to find the right homes for them.

”I’m very grateful to McLaren for entrusting my business with these sales. We are extremely active within the Grand Prix car market and appreciate more than most just how special it is to own a race-driven Formula One car. The personnel, technology, and innovation that go into creating a Formula One car far exceed anything found in a road car, and for me this is where the automotive world comes closest to the traditional art world. Values have moved considerably in recent years, but I still believe this market has a long way to go.”

Notes to editors:

1991 McLAREN MP4/6A CHASSIS #04

Chassis #04 is an exceptionally important ex-works McLaren from the height of the Senna-Berger era. Raced by Berger during McLaren-Honda’s successful 1991 World Championship campaign, the car finished second at the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix, contributing to one of the most dominant McLaren performances in Formula 1 history.

That Imola race saw McLaren achieve a remarkable 1-2, with Berger following Senna across the line after both had lapped the entire field. This was only the second Formula 1 race in history in which both team-mates, driving cars of the same chassis type, achieved this. The MP4/6A went on to deliver McLaren its fourth consecutive Constructors’ Championship, while Senna secured his third Drivers’ title.

Chassis #04 also carries the remarkable distinction of having been utilised in testing by Senna, providing a direct connection to one of the greatest drivers and most celebrated periods in Formula 1 history.

Powered by Honda’s legendary RA121E naturally-aspirated V12, the MP4/6A represents the final generation of McLaren’s great V12-powered championship cars. 

1991 McLAREN MP4/6A CHASSIS #07

The second 1991 MP4/6A, chassis #07, offers an equally compelling combination of competition history and works provenance. Raced by Berger during McLaren-Honda’s 1991 World Championship-winning campaign, chassis #07 finished second at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, McLaren’s home race.

The car qualified within the top five for each of its four Grand Prix appearances, including an impressive third-place qualifying position at the German Grand Prix. Its history extends beyond Berger’s race appearances - Chassis #07 was tested by three-time World Champion Senna at Silverstone in 1992. Significantly, the car was never crashed.

Like chassis #04, #07 has remained with McLaren since its final race and is being offered directly from the works team. It will be fully restored by McLaren before delivery to its next owner. Together, the two MP4/6As offer an exceptionally rare opportunity to acquire not merely two championship-era McLarens, but two cars with direct connections to Senna, Berger, Honda, and McLaren’s 1991 World Championship success.

2012 McLAREN MP4/27A CHASSIS #01

Chassis #01 represents one of the most accomplished periods of McLaren’s modern Formula 1 history. Raced by 2009 World Champion Button during the decisive closing stages of the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship, it competed against the backdrop of one of the most intense title battles of the modern era.

The MP4/27 was among the fastest cars of its generation, recording seven pole positions and three Grand Prix victories during the 2012 season. Chassis #01 achieved the fastest lap at the Indian Grand Prix and secured a strong top-five finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, demonstrating the outright pace of McLaren’s final generation of naturally aspirated V8-powered Formula 1 cars.

It was also tested by Hamilton and is now offered directly from McLaren, where it has remained since its final race, and will be fully restored by McLaren prior to handover.

2021 McLAREN MCL35M CHASSIS #01

The MCL35M represents an important bridge between McLaren’s historic past and its contemporary Formula 1 renaissance. Chassis #01 was raced exclusively by Norris during the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship season.

It was a podium-finishing car at Imola, Monaco, and Monza, and was part of one of the defining moments of McLaren’s modern era: the team’s famous 1-2 finish at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. That Monza victory was McLaren’s first Grand Prix win since 2012 and its first 1-2 since 2010, marking the dawn of a new era of regular success. The car also competed during the extraordinary Hamilton-versus-Verstappen championship battle of 2021, one of the most closely fought seasons in recent Formula 1 history.

At Monaco, chassis #01 carried McLaren’s instantly recognisable Gulf special livery, one of the most celebrated modern Formula 1 liveries. Today, with Norris established as the 2025 Formula 1 World Champion, the significance of owning an early McLaren Grand Prix car raced exclusively by him has taken on a new dimension.

The MCL35M is offered directly from McLaren and will be prepared by the team to race-ready condition before being handed to its next custodian.

2023 McLAREN MCL37A CHASSIS #03 The centrepiece of this extraordinary offering is MCL37A-03, a car that brings together contemporary Formula 1 performance, multiple Grand Prix podiums, a remarkable roster of drivers and a history that continues almost to the present day.

Raced exclusively by Norris during the 2023 Formula 1 season, chassis #03 achieved consecutive second-place finishes at the Singapore Grand Prix and Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, establishing itself as a genuine multiple-podium Grand Prix car.

The MCL37A formed the backbone of McLaren’s extraordinary transformation towards title success in 2024 and 2025. After a difficult start to the 2023 campaign, the team developed the car into one of Red Bull Racing’s closest challengers during the second half of the season.

But chassis #03’s story did not end when its racing career finished. It subsequently became an important part of McLaren's official testing programme and was driven by an exceptional roster that included Norris, Oscar Piastri, Pato O’Ward, Mick Schumacher, Valtteri Bottas, Martin Brundle, and Brad Pitt.

In 2025, Hollywood legend Pitt piloted the car at a private McLaren test at the Circuit of the Americas in connection with F1® The Movie. Following extensive simulator work and engineering preparation, Pitt reached a reported 197mph in the contemporary Grand Prix car.

Most importantly, perhaps, it is the most modern Formula 1 Grand Prix car ever offered the opportunity of private ownership. For collectors accustomed to waiting decades before a Grand Prix car enters private hands, the significance of acquiring a genuine 2023 Formula 1 chassis directly from its works team cannot be overstated.

MCL37A-03 is offered directly from McLaren, where it has remained since its competition career, and will be prepared by McLaren to race-ready condition before handover to its next custodian.

About Tom Hartley Jnr

With more than 25 years of personal experience dealing at the very top end of the market, Tom Hartley Jnr has built enviable client loyalty and a worldwide reputation on his exceptional knowledge, impartial advice, and commitment to quality in every aspect of his business. 

Operating from a private showroom in Oxfordshire, UK, Hartley has a truly global reach and is the most active operator in significant private treaty sales. His company operates at the highest end of the market, supplying only the finest cars and providing unparalleled customer service.

To reinforce both the quality of the cars it supplies and its outstanding global reach, Tom Hartley Jnr was awarded the Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2018. One of the most coveted and prestigious awards available to a UK-based business, the award recognised the company’s hard work in establishing a global presence, with overseas markets extending from the USA to New Zealand. 

In 2025, the business sold in excess of $900m worth of collectible cars, including Bernie Ecclestone’s collection of 69 historic Grand Prix and Formula 1 cars – the most valuable and important collection of its kind in the world – for a reported £500m.