A historic Formula One car that was at the centre of one of the most bitter battles in Formula One’s history and the innocent party in what has been described as one of the most infamous acts in Formula One will go under the hammer at the highly anticipated Ferrari Leggenda e Passione event at Ferrari’s home in Maranello on 17 May 2009.

RM Auctions, in association with Sotheby’s, lift the gavel on the Ferrari 641/2 F1 car that was driven by Alain Prost in 1990 in the acrimonious and bitter battle with his McLaren rival Ayton Senna.

It is also the car that was being driven by Prost when Senna punted him off the track in Japan within seconds of the start of the race so that Senna could take the 1990 title, an act which an appalled Prost commented on that “motor racing is sport not war.”

In total, Chassis 121 had two third place finishes, one being in the season’s final round in Australia, two seconds and a dominant victory in the hands of Prost in 1990 and it has an auction estimate of AU$1.0 million.

Ferrari F1 Clienti department, which maintains Ferrari Fomrula One car for owners so they can drive their car at selected events around the world, carried out a no-expense-spared overhaul at a cost of nearly €110,000 of this unique 1990 Ferrari 641/2 F1 car.

No fewer than 360 hours were spent in overhauling this important Ferrari racing car and it was subsequently shaken down at Fiorano in April 2008 by the Ferrari test drivers.

Performing impeccably, Ferrari F1 Clienti would welcome the car at any of its events during the 2009 season and even the Monaco Historic Grand Prix in 2010.

This car has spent some time in both the United States and Japan in important private collections.

Specifications

Est. 685 bhp at 13,000 rpm, 3,500 cc 65-degree Ferrari Tipo 036/037 V-12 engine, Magneti Marelli/Weber fuel injection, Ferrari seven-speed transmission, double wishbone, pushrod-actuated inboard torsion bar and damper front suspension, double wishbone, pushrod-actuated inboard coil-spring/damper rear suspension, four-wheel SEP/Brembo disc brakes. Wheelbase: 2,855 mm.

Also going under the hammer at the same auction for the first time in 38 years is one of the rarest and most successful Ferrari sports cars, the exceptional, race-bred 1967 Ferrari 330 P4.

Regarded as one of the greatest sports-racing prototypes ever designed by Ferrari, the fiercely competitive 330 P4 is one of only three P4s ever built. This example has a distinguished racing pedigree including a win at the 1000-kilometre Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo in Monza and a third overall finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967.

The car has been driven by such legendary names as Lorenzo Bandini and Willy Mairesse, while Jackie Stewart and Chris Amon famously took the car to second place in the British BOAC International 500 at Brands Hatch, clinching the World Championship for Ferrari in the process.

Significantly, its offering at the May 17 event marks the first time it has come to market in 38 years.