Skip to main content

F1 driver Michael Schumacher’s watch collection to be auctioned (and it’s great)

Buy Michael Schumacher's championship watch

Michael Schumacher's white gold Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
Christie's

If you want to own a little bit of F1 history, you have the chance to buy one of Michael Schumacher’s watches. The German racing legend jointly holds the record for most F1 world championships won, sitting alongside Lewis Hamilton with seven. Like Lewis, Schumacher also has an impressive watch collection, though that is about to get a bit smaller.

In total, eight of Schumacher’s timepieces are set to go under the hammer in May. All-in-all, around $4.8 million is expected to be raised, though there’s a chance this figure could be significantly higher should two affluent fans get into a bidding war.

The watches will be displayed in New York during Miami Grand Prix weekend, so that’s May 3 to 5. The auction itself is scheduled to happen in Geneva on May 13 at 2 PM central European time, so it may require an early start from many interested, U.S.-based, bidders. Auction house Christie’s has already displayed the watches in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Dubai, and Taiwan. The sale also marks the 30th anniversary of Schumacher’s first F1 Driver’s Championship win in 1994.

The collection contains some very personal pieces

Christie's

Brands like Audemars Piguet, F.P. Journe, and Rolex are present among the eight selected watches. The piece that arguably catches the most attention is the white gold Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, which could sell for $280,000. The watch was a Christmas gift from former Ferrari CEO Jean Todt. It features a few unique touches, including a picture of Schumacher’s helmet, the Ferrari prancing horse, and six stars in reference to the six world championships that the racing legend had won when he received the watch in 2003.

The most expensive piece going under the hammer is likely to be Schumacher’s F.P. Journe Vagabondage 1, which auctioneers estimate could sell for as much as $2.2 million. This one is a little more up-to-date than the Royal Oak and comes with seven stars to commemorate all of the driver’s World Title wins. It was another Christmas gift from Todt, coming the following year and marking another victorious season for the German. The dial is in a Ferrari-like red, the helmet and prancing horse logos are there, and there are other nods to what would eventually be “Schumi’s” last championship win.

On the Rolex front, there’s a Paul Newman Daytona. There isn’t anything specifically Schumacher about this one, but it’s still a highly desirable timepiece and arguably the quintessential racing watch. The fact that Schumacher owned and wore it will likely bump the price up, but Paul Newman Daytonas that weren’t owned by racing legends can comfortably fetch six figures in the current market.

It’s unknown if the money from the sale will be going to a particular cause, but it is worth noting that Todt, who gifted a couple of the more exceptional pieces to Schumacher, and the F1 legend did help found a brain injury charity together and have sold watches to raise funds for it before. Schumacher himself suffered a major brain injury in 2013 and hasn’t been seen in public since.

Editors' Recommendations

Dave McQuilling
Dave has spent pretty much his entire career as a journalist; this has included jobs at newspapers, TV stations, on the…
How much does a Formula 1 car weigh?
F1 cars will be smaller and lighter in 2026
Max Verstappen driving a Red Bull F1 race car.

F1 racing is bound by strict rules from the FIA that set a minimum limit on how much a Formula 1 car weighs. Before each racing season, three volumes of FIA F1 Regulations set the parameters for technical, sporting, and financial operations for F1 teams, including the drivers and cars.

The minimum weight for F1 cars will change starting with the 2026 season (more on that below in this article), but for the F1 2024 and 2025 schedules, the official minimum weight for an F1 car is 798 kilograms (1,759.29 pounds). Read on to learn why the regulations list a minimum weight, not a maximum.
Why F1 car weight matters

Read more
What happened to the Renault Formula 1 team?
Can rebranding an F1 team improve its performance?
BWT Alpine Formula 1 race car.

From season to season, the ten Formula 1 racing teams often switch sponsors and suppliers and sometimes even change their names. Some fans have wondered why Renault has no F1 team, but the team is still there but rebranded. Since 2021, Renault has been using the Alpine brand name. Additionally, for the 2024 F1 season, due to sponsorship changes, the official name is BWT Alpine F1 Team. Read on for more about Renault's team changes, the reasons behind the changes, and how the team has fared.
Why a Renault F1 team matters: History

Renault has been part of Formula 1 racing since 1977, at various times as a constructor, engine supplier for other teams, and as an F1 racing team owner. Renault engines powered at least 160 Grand Prix winners during its history with the sport.

Read more
How do Formula 1 teams make money?
Prize winnings alone don't to cover F1 team costs
Pirelli F1 racing tires on Red Bull Racing Formula 1 race car.

F1 team budgets aren't public information, but the $140.4 million budget cap for the 24 races in the 2024 F1 racing schedule is one indication of the costs of fielding two cars for the season. However, the cost cap doesn't include all financial outlays, including driver salaries, which run to eight figures for top drivers. The F1 Budget Cap and exceptions are spelled out in detail in the FIA F1 Financial Rules and Regulations. The massive expenses of F1 teams beg the question: How do Formula 1 teams make money?
Why the way F1 teams make money matters

The FIA instituted cost caps for F1 teams in 2021 to prevent the richest teams from essentially buying championships with their ability to outspend other teams on race car development. If that happened, F1 racing would suffer from fan boredom. The 2024 season reportedly is already losing spectators who are bored by Red Bull's Max Verstappen's unchallenged success and disappointed not by Red Bull or Verstappen but by the failure of other teams to offer serious competition to the three-time World Championship driver.
F1 team funding sources - Formula 1 payments

Read more