The McLaren chassis that ultimately led to the iconic pictures of Kimi Räikkönen retiring to his yacht partway through the 2006 Monaco GP is going to auction in Abu Dhabi courtesy of Bonhams on 25 November.
The car in question is the 2006 McLaren MP4/21, chassis ’02,’ which Räikkönen drove from the season opener in Bahrain until that season’s French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours in July.
One race before the chassis’ final outing, Räikkönen gave F1 broadcasters a classic ‘Iceman’ moment in Monaco.
Long before the Finnish driver was dropping blunt remarks on Netflix’s Drive to Survive and even before the famous ice lolly incident in the 2009 Malaysian GP, Räikkönen caught the media’s attention upon his MP4/21 retiring mid-race in Monaco.
Räikkönen decided against reconnecting with his team in the garage, instead opting to watch the rest of the race from his yacht in Monaco’s harbour.
Thanks to Kimi’s antics, the MP4/21 has been etched into F1 history and is expected to fetch a hefty price tag in the region of $2.5 – $3.5 million when Bonhams puts it up for auction in the On The Grid sale at Abu Dhabi in November.
Despite the car being immortalised by the Monaco DNF, the MP4/21 failed to meet McLaren’s lofty expectations in 2006.
The team had just come off the back of being pipped to the title by Fernando Alonso and Renault in 2005, despite winning 10 Grands Prix, so McLaren, Räikkönen, and teammate Juan Pablo Montoya likely hoped for another title bid in 2006.
However, the MP4/21 failed to deliver the performance necessary to mount a title challenge and the Woking-based team fell behind Renault and a resurgent Ferrari in the pecking order, finishing the year third in the constructors’ standings, with zero wins.
To make matters worse, Montoya left the team partway through the season when team boss Ron Dennis caught wind that the Colombian was prepping to race in NASCAR for 2007.
Despite failing to win a Grand Prix in 2006, Kimi still guided the MP4/21 to six podiums and three pole positions, with chassis ’02’ achieving two of those six podiums.
It would be the final year of Räikkönen’s partnership with McLaren, before departing for Ferrari in 2007 and picking up his one and only drivers’ title.
The MP4/21 is also memorable for being McLaren’s first car of the V8 era, with 2006 introducing the 2.4 litre V8 ruleset.
McLaren’s Mercedes powertrain put out approximately 750 horsepower at 19,000 RPM.
This slice of chrome-liveried F1 history will also share the limelight with another classic F1 machine courtesy of Bonhams in Abu Dhabi later this year in the form of Mario Andretti’s 1978 title-winning Lotus 79.
The John Player Special liveried, ground effect marvel is expected to sell for a considerable amount with an estimated price tag in the region of $6.5 – $9.5 million.
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