Alonso and Hamilton's Supercar Showdown in Monaco

Fernando Alonso might never catch Lewis Hamilton in the record books, but away from the stopwatch their duel is very much alive – and it now roars through the streets of Monaco in 16 cylinders.

The two multiple world champions have long occupied opposite ends of the modern F1 grid, Hamilton chasing titles, Alonso dragging midfield machinery into places it barely belongs. Their pay packets, though, still sit in the same rarefied air, and both have poured a slice of that wealth into garages that look more like private museums.

Hamilton made the latest move in that quiet arms race at Monza. At his team’s home race, the Briton rolled in with an outrageously clean Ferrari F40, a car so pristine it barely seems to have lived. The engine block, he has claimed, even matches his famous No.44. With F40s typically trading around £3 million and the auction record nudging £6m, it was a statement on wheels, and it turned every head in the paddock and grandstands alike.

Alonso’s reply came with far less noise around it – at least off track. No fanfare, no team home race. Just the Aston Martin driver slipping through Monaco’s tight streets in a machine that might be even more audacious.

The Spaniard has added a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse to his already formidable collection, a car being talked about as the most expensive Veyron ever built. This particular example, produced in 2014, is a showpiece even by Bugatti’s standards. Its bodywork uses a staggering 20 tonnes of polished aluminium, finished to such a degree that the car throws back a mirror image of the world around it as it glides past.

In Monaco, where supercars are wallpaper, this one still stood out. Alonso, who attacks these same roads once a year in an F1 car, now has a different kind of weapon for low-speed laps of the principality.

Automotive History

Underneath the shine sits a piece of modern automotive history. When the Veyron first arrived in 2005, it ripped up the rulebook. A top speed of 407 km/h made it the fastest production car in the world, powered by an 8.0-litre W16 quad-turbocharged engine that seemed closer to engineering theatre than conventional road-car thinking.

This specific Grand Sport Vitesse has barely been used. AutoNext report that it had just 750 km on the clock with its previous owner and spent 27 months on the market before Alonso stepped in and signed the cheque. The record public sale for a Veyron sits at around £2m, but the uniqueness of this aluminium-laden example could push it far higher, putting it nose-to-nose with Hamilton’s F40 in the value stakes.

For Alonso, now 45, it is another jewel in a collection that already includes an Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar and a one-off Pagani Zonda Roadster Diamante Verde. For Hamilton, it is another reminder that while he leads the way in titles, his old McLaren teammate refuses to lift in any other race – even the one that starts and ends in the garage.