McLaren Made Over $11 Million on a Car That Hasn’t Even Been Seen, Let Alone Raced

It's pretty hard to imagine spending over $11 million on a car, but it's even harder to imagine spending that kind of dough on a car that you've never even seen, but that's how much someone shelled out for one of McLaren's 2026 Formula 1 cars.

Back in August, it was announced that McLaren had plans to auction off a trio of un-raced cars, and one of them was the MCL40A, which will be the team's car for the 2026 F1 season.

But the fact is that no one outside of McLaren — including anyone looking to buy it at auction — has seen it, and it won't be unveiled for a few more weeks before it hits the track for testing in February.

Still, that didn't stop one person from cutting an $11.4 million check for one of them.

According to Motorsport, this put the MCL40A among the priciest F1 cars ever sold. Which is wild because a car's on-track success usually affects its value. For all we know, McLaren could struggle with the new regulations hitting the sport in 2026 and may not be vying for championships again. That could make it worth less than that $11.4 million figure.

But, on the other hand, it could prove to be one of the best cars in the sport's history, in which case, it might be a great investment.

We'll learn which it will be in a few months.

Meanwhile, the buyer will have to wait until 2028 to get their hands on the car, but they will be given a 2025 show car, get a trip to the McLaren Technology Center, and attend several F1 races, as well as the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Speaking of which, McLaren also auctioned off a 2027 Hypercar that will compete in the World Endurance Championship for just under $7.6 million, while a 2026 Indianapolis 500 car sold for a comparatively reasonable $848,750.