Fernando Alonso rivals Lewis Hamilton with extraordinary new car purchase

The former rivals have been at different ends of the grid in recent years but are still pocketing similarly eye-watering salaries due to their elite pedigree.

Both have spent a decent portion of that on their car collections, with Hamilton showing off his latest, an incredibly low-mileage Ferrari F40, at his team’s home Monza race.

That unique car, with an engine block Hamilton claims matches his No.44 racing number, is estimated to be worth anything between £3million, the average F40 price, and the £6m record one recently sold for at auction.

Now, always keen to upstage his former McLaren teammate, Alonso has shown off a similarly audacious purchase, but in less public scenes.

The Aston Martin driver was filmed and photographed driving around Monaco in a Bugatti Veyron, which is being called the most expensive ever built.

The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse was built in 2014, and the bodywork was finished using 20 tonnes of polished aluminium to produce a mirror-like effect.

The design certainly stood out as Alonso took it around the streets he races around once a season.

Like the F40, the Veyron was completely groundbreaking on its release in 2005 when it became the fastest production car in the world with a top speed of 407 km/h thanks to a staggering 8.0-litre W16 quad-turbocharged engine.

AutoNext report that the car had just 750km on the clock under the previous owner and had been on sale for 27 months before Alonso became the proud new owner.

The record public sale of a Veyron was around £2m, but the uniqueness of Alonso’s model may well lift it over that figure and do battle with Hamilton’s F40.

It also further expands an astonishing collection for the 45-year-old, who already boasts an Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar and a one-off Pagani Zonda Roadster Diamante Verde.