Cristiano Ronaldo crashed a Ferrari, Rowan Atkinson smashed his McLaren – which other celebrities wrecked their ultra-luxury cars?

They are beautiful. They have powerful engines, design like none other, they are amazing, desirable and expensive. And they are often driven by well-known, revered people, which makes them even more exclusive. It’s not unusual for the rich and famous to be seen driving high-status wheels. Unfortunately, though, it’s also not unusual for them to turn their exclusive wheels into piles of scrap metal.

Rowan Atkinson’s McLaren F1

Bruce McLaren, the founder of the McLaren motor racing team, passed away in a testing accident in 1970. His team went on to make a name for itself in the world of motorsports, avoiding the worst accidents in Formula One history to this day. McLaren’s production cars were not that lucky, it seems.

English actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson spent more than half a million pounds (US$650,000) on a rare McLaren F1 in 1997. He couldn’t enjoy it for too long, though, before it was involved in an accident: it rear-ended an Austin Metro, a small city car, two years later. The car was repaired, and used by the actor for 12 more years before it was wrecked again: it reportedly caught fire, causing the actor to lose control of the wheel and hit a tree. This time, the repairs took quite some time – over a year. Atkinson seemed to be reluctant to risk driving it again, though – he reportedly sold the car in 2015 for £8 million (US$10.4 million).

Afrojack’s Ferrari

Nick van de Wall, better known by his stage name Afrojack, bought his Ferrari 458 Italia in February 2013. His time as the owner of a beautiful luxury car was, in turn, very short: the Dutch DJ wrecked his US$240,000 car an hour after buying it. Luckily, he was able to see the positive spin on the mishap: he learned not to drive a Ferrari when the weather is bad.

Ronaldo’s Ferrari