The sale is a rare opportunity to buy a ground effect hybrid car: the 2023 generation is so recent that it is still used for testing by current and future Formula 1 drivers, and the technology remains regulated by racing’s governing body, the FIA.

At present, the 2023 McLaren is still categorised as a “previous car”, so any sale must be approved by the FIA, which enforces testing of previous cars (TPC) restrictions. Under the current regulations, teams only have 20 TPC days per year so, initially at least, any track running by the buyer would come out of McLaren’s allocation.

McLaren’s MCL37A, chassis No3 began life as Lando Norris’s race car, finishing second in both Singapore and Japan, after the team’s remarkable mid-season turnaround which proves the springboard to the following seasons’ two consecutive constructors’ championships.

The car then became a key fixture in McLaren’s TPC programme, that included runs to maintain the level of its reserve drivers, but it also included a test for Brad Pitt during his promotional tour for F1 The Movie. He lapped Circuit of the Americas in 2025, reputedly reaching 197mph in the same car.

McLaren says that this is the most modern F1 car ever offered for private ownership, although the team has already pre-sold a 2026 car for close to $11.5 million (£8.6m), which will be delivered to the buyer in 2028.

Buyers of each of the five cars are likely to be early invitees to a new club being planned by McLaren. Brown said this will be inspired by Ferrari’s own heritage department, which operates under the Corse Clienti banner and is understood to be immensely lucrative.

The Ferrari programme stores and maintains Formula 1 and track-only sports cars; arranges eight weekends a year for cars and owners, and can also arrange private track hire and transport for owners. It also runs the one-make Challenge series.

With more McLaren Formula 1 cars finding their way into private hands; several track-only cars from the road car department; as well as the one-make McLaren Trophy, it looks as if McLaren may be eyeing a similar all-encompassing scheme – amalgamating individual track-day programmes that already exist for some F1 and sports car owners.

“We want to have people out there. We are creating a club,” said Brown. “[There’s] more to come around a club we are creating, I’ll leave it at that. You look at what Ferrari has done and our automotive business… We want to put vehicles in the hands of our best customers, whether it’s a road car or a race car.”

McLaren Formula 1 cars for sale

Available from Tom Hartley Jnr, www.tomhartleyjnr.com

1991 McLaren MP4/6A Chassis No4

• Raced by Gerhard Berger during the 1991 constructors’ championship-winning campaign
• Finished second behind Ayrton Senna during dominant Imola race where both McLarens lapped the entire field
• Tested by Senna
• V12-powered

1991 McLaren MP4/6A Chassis No7

• Also raced by Gerhard Berger during the triumphant 1991 season
• Finished second at the British Grand Prix
• Tested by Senna at Silverstone in 1992
• V12 powered and never crashed

2012 McLaren MP4/27A Chassis No1

• Raced by Jenson Button during the 2012 season
• Set fastest lap of the Indian Grand Prix
• Top-five finish in Abu Dhabi
• V8 engine can cover 3000km between rebuilds – twice that of a 1991 V12

2021 McLaren MCL35M Chassis No1

• Raced by Lando Norris during the 2021 season
• Podium finishes at Imola, Monaco and Monza, where it was part of McLaren’s first 1-2 finish since 2010
• Sold with one-off Gulf livery from Monaco

2023 McLaren MCL37A Chassis No3

• Raced by Lando Norris during the 2023 season
• Second-placed finishes in Singapore and Japan
• Used for McLaren’s TPC programme: drivers included Oscar Piastri, Pato O’Ward, Mick Schumacher and Valtteri Bottas
• Driven by Brad Pitt at Circuit of the Americas in 2025