Bernie Ecclestone selling off entire £500MILLION collection of rare F1 cars including one driven by Michael Schumacher

BERNIE ECCLESTONE is putting his £500MILLION Formula 1 car collection up for sale.

The incredible assortment of vehicles includes those driven by ex-world champions such as Michael Schumacher, Mike Hawthorn, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Carlos Pace.

Bernie Ecclestone is selling his huge car collectionTom Hartley Jnr/PA Wire

It is thought to be worth around £500millionTom Hartley Jnr/PA Wire

Some iconic Ferraris are among those being soldTom Hartley Jnr/PA Wire

Ecclestone was involved in F1 for seven decadesTom Hartley Jnr/PA Wire

The collection spans 70 years of F1 – which marries up with Ecclestone, 94, who was involved with the sport for seven decades.

The Ferraris are a highlight of the collection.

They include the the famous Thin Wall Special which beat Alfa Romeo, the Alberto Ascari Italian Grand Prix-winning 375 F1, and the Mike Hawthorn World Championship-winning Dino.

Ecclestone first dipped his toe in the sport working for Connaught, before he went on to become a team owner and then F1’s commercial rights holder.

He was removed from his position as F1 chief in 2017.

And last year he agreed to pay £652million after avoiding jail over failing to declare overseas assets.

However, he insists selling his lucrative car collection is not a financially-motivated decision, but because he wants to give them a new home before he dies.

Speaking to The Telegraph, he said: “That is why I have decided to sell them.

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Car collectors will be excited to get their hands on the iconic vehiclesTom Hartley Jnr/PA Wire

Classic car dealer Tom Hartley Jnr is handling the sale of the collectionTom Hartley Jnr/PA Wire

“I would like to know where they have gone and not leave them for my wife to deal with should I not be around.

“I have been collecting these cars for more than 50 years, and I have only ever bought the best of any example.

“Whilst many other collectors over the years have opted for sports cars, my passion has always been for Grand Prix and Formula One cars.

“A Grand Prix and in particular a Formula One car is far more important than any road car or other form of race car, as it is the pinnacle of the sport, and all the cars I have bought over the years have fantastic race histories and are rare works of art.”

Car dealer Tom Hartley Jnr, who is handling the sale of Ecclestone’s astonishing collection, explained why the collection was so iconic.

And he also took a sly dig at the current crop of F1 cars.

He said: “This is a great opportunity for a discerning collector to acquire cars that have never before been offered for sale, and it would be great to see them back on the track again.

“All of the cars on the Formula One grid today look the same.

“If you stripped them of their liveries, you’d struggle to know which one was a Williams and which was a Ferrari.

“But when you look at some of the Grand Prix cars from the early 1960s to the late 1970s, they’d very much be at home in The Museum of Modern Art.”