Formula One racing suit donated to charity shop up for auction

A Formula One racing suit donated to a charity shop is set to be auctioned off with a guide price of up to £3,000.

The overalls, believed to have been worn by German driver Ralf Schumacher at the French Grand Prix in 1999, were handed in to Scope’s store in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, by a mystery donor.

Derbyshire-based Hansons Auctioneers has been instructed to sell the suit amid hopes it will raise between £2,000 and £3,000 at a sale on November 23.

The firm’s owner, Charles Hanson, described the find as one of the best charity bag donations ever.

“There are motor racing fans throughout the world who would love to own this exceptional piece of sporting memorabilia,” Mr Hanson said.

The label even shows the name (Hanson´s/PA)

The label even shows the name (Hanson´s/PA)

“What I particularly love about it is that it has Schumacher’s name written in pen on the name label – just like schooldays when our names were written on our sports kits to stop them going astray.”

A spokesperson for Scope said: “After the initial surprise, our sleuth shop manager Amanda Tucker sent images to the Williams team. They established that the suit had been worn by Schumacher in the 1999 season.”

Jonathan Williams, of Williams Heritage, said of the suit: “The Williams F1 logo is in place of the usual Winfield logo, which indicates this overall was for races where tobacco advertising was prohibited.

“The white section on the lower torso is without a logo here. It would usually have been occupied by the Veltins beer logo.

“Only France during this time prohibited both alcohol and tobacco advertising, so these overalls are French Grand Prix and testing specification.”

Ms Tucker said: “I had to do a double take when I first saw the suit coming out of the bag.

“Donations like this don’t come into the shop every day and we are truly thankful to our kind mystery donor. I felt like we’d passed the chequered flag.”

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