Charles Leclerc breaks long-standing Ayrton Senna record with Imola auction

Charles Leclerc has raised a staggering €358,000 (£368,800) to aid relief efforts for flood victims in Italy by auctioning off his Monaco GP race gear, the helmet proving to be a record-breaker.

Formula 1 was scheduled to go racing at the Imola Circuit for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on the weekend before Monaco, though a fresh bout of severe flooding in the region meant the race weekend could not go ahead as focus rightly switched to helping all those sadly impacted.

There had been hope in the build-up to the event that it could go ahead, but heavy rain set in on the Tuesday, triggering an evacuation of the Imola paddock, before further intense rainfall on the Wednesday led to the decision to cancel the race weekend.

Formula 1, as well as several teams and drivers have since contributed to the efforts from the emergency services, and Leclerc looked to do his part by auctioning off his race gear worn at his home race, the Monaco Grand Prix. It is safe to say that the initiative has proven to be a successful one!

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In total, the ‘Charles Leclerc for Emilia-Romagna’ charity auction, held by RM Sotherby’s, raised £368,800, but it was the £262,700 fetched for his helmet which has shattered the record, with the previous highest-fetching racing helmet at auction being one worn by legendary three-time F1 World Champion Ayrton Senna, drawing £139,100, a record which had stood since 2019.

Making up the remainder of the total raised was £52,500 for his Monaco race suit, £36,100 for the gloves and £17,500 for the boots with it all combining into what was a one-off race gear design for Monaco.

Reacting on social media, Leclerc said: “Thank you so much to all the people who did participate to the auction.

“€358,000 is an incredible amount that I’m sure will help many people. Thank you so much.”

PlanetF1.com understands the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will not be rescheduled, meaning the season will be made up of 22 rounds.