A race-worn Ayrton Senna helmet from the collection of Jersey resident and Formula One world champion Nigel Mansell has sold for a staggering £500,000… more than four times its pre-sale estimate.

The iconic helmet, worn by the late Brazilian driver during three Grands Prix in 1992, was one of a number of items being auctioned to raise money for charity UK Youth, which provides young people with skills and opportunities and for which Mr Mansell has served as president for 25 years.

While the Senna helmet was expected to fetch between £80,000 and £120,000 at the BUDDS Motorsport Icons Live Auction at Silverstone Museum, bidding instead rocketed to £500,000, with the final price rising to £625,000 including the buyer’s premium.

The helmet was worn by Senna during the British, German and Hungarian Grands Prix in 1992 and was making its auction debut.

It was also used during the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, which was the only Formula One podium to feature Senna, Michael Schumacher and Nigel Mansell together.

“We knew it was going to be popular”

The sale set a new record for the auction house, BUDDS.

BUDDS head of sporting memorabilia David Convery said the helmet was “testament to Ayrton Senna’s incredible legacy in motorsport”, describing him as being “to F1 what Pele is to football or Ali to boxing”.

The auction finished late afternoon on Tuesday, with the closing bid on the Senna helmet at half-a-million.

“We knew it was going to be popular, but to watch the bids go up by £100,000 over the Grand Prix weekend felt pretty momentous, and to see it sell today for £500,000 was a record price for BUDDS and is an auctioneer’s dream,” he continued.

“The new owner has a piece of history in their hands, and a sound investment to boot –interest in F1 memorabilia is soaring and Senna will always hold a special place in the hearts of motorsport fans.

“He’ll be remembered forever for his talent, his sportsmanship and, of course, a poignant sense of what might have been.”

One of Mr Mansell’s signed helmets – from the 1997 season in which he claimed six race wins, seven podiums, eight pole positions, and finished 2nd in the Drivers’ World Championship –was sold with some of his gloves for £12,000.

The sale formed part of a charity auction featuring items from Mansell’s personal collection, alongside memorabilia linked to some of Formula One’s biggest names, including Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Valentino Rossi and Michael Schumacher.

Earlier this year, a separate auction of parts of Mr Mansell’s collection – much of it formerly housed at his now-closed car dealership and museum in St Helier – raised more than £82,000 for charity after auctioning off a lifetime of motorsport memorabilia.