The silver W196 R Stromlinienwagen was driven by Argentina’s five-time F1 champion Fangio as he won the 1955 Buenos Aires Grand Prix.

Britain’s Moss piloted the car at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza the same year, setting the fastest lap at an average speed of 134mph before retiring.

The Silver Arrow was sold by RM Sotheby’s at the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart, Germany, on behalf of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), and becomes the most expensive grand prix car ever sold.

The previous record was held by another ex-Fangio Mercedes W196 from 1954 that went for £19.6m after commission and taxes at Goodwood in 2013.

The W196 R, one of only four in existence, had an estimated price of more than €50m with the final hammer going down at €46.5m. A buyer’s premium is included in the final price.

That makes it the second most valuable car to change hands at auction, behind a 1955 Mercedes 300SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe sportscar that sold for €135m (£113m) in May 2022.

“It’s a beautiful car, it’s a very historic car, it’s just a little bit outside our scope window,” said IMS curator Jason Vansickle.

The 40-year-old seven-time champion tested a 2023 car on Wednesday as part of his acclimatisation work with his new team.

His test follows two days of work at the Ferrari factory in Maranello, of which the Fiorano track is a part.

Hamilton’s running was complete by shortly after 11:00 local time (10:00 GMT). Team-mate Charles Leclerc will drive the car in the afternoon as he begins to get back up to speed after the winter break.

Ferrari will release more information about Hamilton’s running later on Wednesday.

Hamilton will be limited to a total of 1,000km (621 miles) of what is known as testing of previous cars running by F1’s regulations.

The test will help him learn the way the Ferrari engine operates and allow him to build trust and working practices with his new race engineer Riccardo Adami and the rest of the team.

Adami worked with Carlos Sainz for the last four years and before that four-time champion Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton has driven only Mercedes engines throughout his 18-year F1 career.

Modern F1 engines are 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrids with sophisticated energy recovery systems and complicated control processes, many of which are operated by the driver in the cockpit.

Although the multiple power and performance modes of the various engines are all designed to do similar things, each manufacturer has different software and operating procedures, with drivers requiring time to become familiarised.

The test is being held behind close doors. It has drawn significant attention and there are crowds of fans standing on the bridge overlooking Fiorano for a glimpse of the team’s new driver.

The test is running in cold, foggy conditions, which are quite typical of January in Emilia-Romagna.

Hamilton is also expected to test at Spain’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in the coming weeks before experiencing the team’s 2025 model at its launch on 19 February.

Hamilton’s first official public appearance as a Ferrari driver will be on 18 February at the launch of the F1 season at the O2 in London, which all the teams and drivers are required to attend.

Three days of official pre-season testing in Bahrain will start on 26 February, before the start of the season at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 14-16 March.

Almost a year since Hamilton announced his shock decision to leave Mercedes, where he won six of his seven Formula One world championships, the 40-year-old suited up on Monday for a photograph in front of team founder Enzo Ferrari’s office, standing next to a Ferrari supercar.

“There are some days that you know you’ll remember forever, and today, my first as a Ferrari driver, is one of those days,” Hamilton wrote on Instagram.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have achieved things in my career I never thought possible, but part of me has always held on to that dream of racing in red. I couldn’t be happier to realise that dream today.”

Hamilton’s first day included a seat fitting followed by the simulator, but due to weather conditions, he is not likely to have a first outing at the Fiorano test track until Wednesday while official testing starts in Bahrain on February 26-28.

The  Briton had his worst season in Formula One last year in terms of championship position, finishing seventh overall, but did win two races after two seasons without a victory. Hamilton’s last championship win came in 2020.

He is taking the place of Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who has joined Williams. Hamilton will partner with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, who are without a driver’s title since 2007 but hope to change that in the 2025 season, which begins with the Australian Grand Prix on March 14-16.

“Today we start a new era in the history of this iconic team, and I can’t wait to see what story we will write together,” Hamilton said.

The world champion was ordered to complete some “work of public interest” for the transgression, a punishment he described as “ridiculous” at the time.

Governing body the FIA said after the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that Verstappen’s duty would coincide with its prize-giving in the African country’s capital next week.

The top three drivers in the F1 world championship are required by regulation to attend the end-of-season FIA prize-giving ceremony. Verstappen’s punishment has been tagged on to the mandatory trip.

A statement said: “While in Kigali, (Verstappen) will undertake some work with junior competitors as part of the grassroots development programme organised by the Rwanda Automobile Club (RAC).

“The activity will involve an FIA affordable cross car which was built locally in Rwanda by the RAC from blueprints provided by the FIA.

“Verstappen’s penalty, along with a fine for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for a similar offence at the Mexico City Grand Prix, led the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association to publish an open letter asking the FIA to treat them like adults.

The letter also criticised the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who has caused widespread dismay in F1 at his actions this year, for his “tone and language” when addressing the topic.