Own A Piece Of Lewis Hamilton's F1 Car Thanks To NFTs And FTX

Ever wanted to own a piece of a Formula One car? Winning an auction for a non-fungible token could complete the dream for many fans of the global racing sport.

What Happened: Formula One, which is owned by Liberty Formula One Group FWONAFWONK, is set to race its inaugural Miami Grand Prix the weekend of May 8, 2022.

Mercedes AMG Petronas, which is a leading Formula One Team, announced a partnership with leading cryptocurrency platform FTX.

Mercedes AMG Petronas counts Lewis Hamilton and George Russell as drivers and will offer fans the chance to own a piece of their race cars driven at the Miami Grand Prix.

The partnership will launch 1,000 free-to-claim NFTs built on the Solana SOL/USD blockchain. The NFTs will be in the form of a digital ticket stub and could provide future utility from FTX. The two parties plan to launch similar NFTs for upcoming races and may offer up to 2,500 free-to-claim NFTs for future races.

A premium auction for 10 limited edition NFTs built on the Ethereum ETH/USD blockchain will also be offered.

Two of the premium NFTs will coincide with a physical piece of the rear wing from the cars of Hamilton and Russell.

Bidding on the premium NFTs will begin on May 6 on the FTX marketplace and run through May 13.

Related Link: Formula 1 Had A Huge 2021 With Viewership, Race Growth: Here's What's In Store For 22 Including U.S. Expansion

Why It’s Important: The Miami Grand Prix is one of the U.S. Formula One events to be held in 2022 and one of three that will be held in the U.S. in 2023.

The sport has seen an increase in viewership in the U.S., which has been partially attributed to a reality show on Netflix Inc NFLX called "Drive to Survive." A close race for the championship last season between Max Verstappen and Hamilton also helped boost interest in the sport.

Russell and Hamilton rank fourth and seventh respectively in the current Formula One season.

Photo: Ank Kumar via Wikimedia Commons