Iconic 1957 Ferrari F1 set for record £24m auction

A 1957 Ferrari racing car driven by 1958 F1 world champion Mike Hawthorn and fellow greats Stirling Moss, Peter Collins, and Wolfgang von Trips, is expected to sell for €32m (£24.4m) at the next Retromobile show in Paris.

The 1957 Ferrari 335 Sport Scaglietti is part of an Artcurial Motorcars auction that will take place at the upcoming edition of the classic car event held from February 3-7.

Initially fitted with a four-cam 3.8-litre V12 Tipo 140 engine and bodywork by Scaglietti, the #0674 chassis was first raced during the 12 Hours of Sebring in the hands of Collins and two-time Monaco Grand Prix winner Maurice Trintignant.

Von Trips then took the car to a second-place finish in the 1957 installment of the iconic Mille Miglia (pictured above), before the engine was increased to 4 100 cc ahead of its entering the famous Le Mans 24 Hours.

Sharing driving duties with fellow grand prix winner Luigi Musso, Hawthorn took an early lead in the French endurance classic and went on to clock the first 200kph-plus lap time around the grueling La Sarthe venue.

Other milestones include a 1958 Cuban Grand Prix win in Havana, with Moss and US racer Masten Gregory behind the wheel.

“[This car] is both a masterpiece and a queen of speed," enthuses Artcurial Motorcars managing director Matthieu Lamoure. “It is the embodiment of the exceptional: beauty, rarity, racing achievement, history, authenticity and provenance.”

An 1956 290 MM driven by five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio recently went for $28m (£19.7m) during an RM Sotheby's auction, though the most expensive car ever sold remains the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta that had fetched $38 million (£22.8m) in August 2014 at a Bonham’s event.

Key dates for the 2016 F1 season