One to Buy: ex-Juan Pablo Montoya / Lewis Hamilton 2006 McLaren MP4-21 Mercedes-Benz
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Having finished second to Renault in the 2005 Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship with Kimi Raikkonen runner up in the Drivers’ standings and team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya fourth, McLaren went into the 2006 season looking to secure its first titles since 1999.
2006 marked the debut of new 2.4-litre V8 engine regulations to replace the outgoing 3-litre V10s and it was hoped the new in-house developed Mercedes-Benz units would prove the class of the field. However, while the MP4-21 was a frequent podium finisher and started from pole three times, McLaren failed to register any victories as Renault and Ferrari dominated proceedings.
McLaren ultimately finished the season third in the Constructors’ standings while Kimi Raikkonen was best placed non Renault and Ferrari runner with fifth in the Drivers’ championship. Juan Pablo Montoya placed eighth having quit the team mid-way through the season to be replaced by Pedro de la Rosa.
Very rarely do McLarens from the Ron Dennis era come on to the open market, but set to go under the hammer at RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction on August 16th is a veteran of that 2006 campaign: chassis 21A-03.
Driven by Juan Pablo Montoya in the opening three races of 2006, 21A-03 qualified and finished fifth in Bahrain, started sixth and finished fourth in Bahrain and lined up fifth in Australia but failed to finish owing to an electrical problem caused by running wide over a curb.
The car was then retired from racing duty, but between October 2006 and January 2007 was tested extensively by future seven-time F1 champion, Lewis Hamilton, ahead of his debut season.
Restored by McLaren Racing Heritage in 2019, chassis 21A-03 is offered in functional condition complete with engine, gearbox, onboard computer and steering wheel.
