Dragon Ball x McLaren Formula 1 Flag Sells for Nearly $80,000 at Auction

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A very rare flag created for a Formula 1 and Akira Toriyama collaboration – and signed by the late creator himself – recently sold for £60,000, which is about US$80,000.

Memento Exclusives announced that a racing item was officially sold for £60,000 (around $79,212) at the F1 Authentics Season Launch Auction. The auction, which began on March 5th, featured several valuable pieces of racing memorabilia, including items from Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.

The auction’s top sale was a Dragon Ball flag, which went for almost $80,000. Lewis Hamilton’s 2011 McLaren race suit sold for £49,500 (about $65,350), and a race suit worn by Michael Schumacher in 2010 for Mercedes AMG Petronas fetched £15,500 (approximately $20,460).

Ultra-Rare Dragon Ball x Formula 1 Flag Signed by Akira Toriyama Sells for $80,000

This flag was created in 1990 as a limited-edition promotional item jointly produced by Shueisha and the McLaren Formula 1 team. It features artwork of popular characters from the franchise, such as Goku, Bulma, Master Roshi, young Goku, and Krillin.

The piece features a McLaren-Honda MP4/5B, car number 28, which Gerhard Berger famously drove. It also includes the logo for Weekly Shonen Jump and Japanese text. At the top is “ジャンプ,” and at the bottom is “必勝” – a phrase meaning “certain victory” often used in competition.

This artwork was first given to Ekrem Sami, who used to lead marketing at McLaren. It stayed in great shape for over thirty years before being auctioned off. Because it’s so rare and directly linked to its creator, Toriyama, it quickly became one of the most popular items in the auction.

The flag’s design also pays tribute to a unique moment in the late 1980s and early 1990s when Japanese manga and Formula 1 intersected. During this time, the racing team featured branding from the popular Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on its cars. Toriyama, a leading artist for the magazine, created artwork combining characters from his famous Dragon Ball series with the world of motorsports.

Toriyama participated in the project because he’d always loved vehicles and enjoyed designing machines – interests that showed up often in his art. He even became more involved with racing in 1990 when he met famous Formula One driver Ayrton Senna.

Although we don’t yet know who bought the flag, it’s a truly unique item that combines anime and Formula 1 history.

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2026-04-06 03:09