Bernie Ecclestone has sold his entire collection of historic grand prix and Formula One cars – 69 cars valued at an estimated £500 million – to the billionaire son of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
Austrian Mark Mateschitz, 32, who inherited 49 per cent of the world’s largest energy drink manufacturer following his father’s death in October 2022, said he would make the collection accessible to the public “in the near future”.
It has not been disclosed how much Mateschitz paid for the fleet, which includes Ferraris raced by world champions such as Mike Hawthorn, Niki Lauda, and Michael Schumacher, Brabhams raced by Nelson Piquet, Carlos Pace and Lauda, as well as the one-off Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT46B “fan car”, which raced only once, winning the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp in 1978.
Tom Hartley Jnr, who handled the sale, told Telegraph Sport on Thursday that it was “by several multiples the biggest sale price ever achieved for a classic car collection”.
Ecclestone, 94, announced late last year that he was putting the collection, which he has acquired over the course of 50 years, up for sale. His decision to sell came after he pleaded guilty in 2023 to fraud, having failed to declare a trust that held assets worth more than £416 million.
Prosecutors told Southwark Crown Court that he would pay a record £652 million to HM Revenue and Customs, while he was given a suspended jail sentence of 17 months. But in a recent interview with Telegraph Sport, Ecclestone insisted this played no part in his willingness to sell off the family silver.
“It’s very easy,” said the former F1 supremo, who now lives in Gstaad, Switzerland with wife Fabiana, 48, and four-year-old son Ace. “With a bit of luck I might get two or three more years. And I don’t want to leave all this for Fabiana to sort. All these car dealers would be driving her mad. So the best thing to do is to get all the cars together and try to make sure they go to proper homes. Ace might not be interested in handling all this either. He might be more into football. Sooner or later, this had to happen. I’m still more or less in control, so I can do what I like. Maybe in another year I won’t be able to.”
Hartley Jnr said there had been interest from all over the world, including from two sovereign wealth funds. Ecclestone indicated to Telegraph Sport in the same interview that one of the nation states interested was Saudi Arabia.
“When we put the cars up for sale before Christmas I don’t think we could have anticipated how much interest there would be,” Hartley Jnr said. “It’s been utterly incredible. We received offers from all over the world, including from two separate sovereign wealth funds. But I do feel the collection has gone to the best home, and to the buyer which Bernie most favoured.
He added: “The buyer moved extremely quickly. We spoke with him before Christmas, he flew over, we showed him the cars and he was very, very excited. He was definitely a favoured buyer of Bernie’s.
“There has never been a transaction in the collectors’ car world that even comes close to this. By several multiples it is the biggest sale price ever achieved.
“Being involved in the sale was a real privilege. Although it came together quickly in the end, the process took years –researching every chassis, the race history of each car, going over to Ferrari and digging into their archives and so on.
“Bernie deserves great credit and gratitude, for not going down the traditional auction route. When you put a car up for auction it is open to so many elements. The stock market could crash the day before, the market could be volatile. Bernie gave us a mandate to sell, but did not impose a time limit. I think we achieved the best result we could.”
Ecclestone told the Daily Mail he was delighted that the collection would be going to the only son of a close personal friend. “It means a great deal to me to know that this collection is now in the very best of hands,” Ecclestone said. “Mark is the best and most worthy owner we could ever imagine.”
Mateschitz, who succeeded his father on his death in October 2022, added: “I am very pleased that Bernie has placed his trust in me to take care of this historically significant collection.
“It will be carefully preserved, expanded over the years, and in the near future it will be made accessible to the public at an appropriate location.”
Asked where he thought the collection would be exhibited, Hartley Jnr added: “I imagine it will probably be in Austria.”
