Legends Reunited

MCLAREN AND SENNA TOGETHER AGAIN, FOR THE FIRST TIME

- Angus MacKenzie

McLaren Senna. Magic, right there. Ayrton Senna became a three-time world champion at the wheel of a McLaren Formula 1 car in just four years. Now, almost a quarter century later, the two names are reunited.

One of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, Senna’s understanding of vehicle dynamics was the stuff of legend along pit lane. He could talk for an hour about a single lap of Monaco, insiders recall, describing everything that the car was doing, what was happening, and why.

Senna dabbled in road car development while at McLaren, working with Honda (then the McLaren F1 team’s engine supplier) on the final chassis tune of the original NSX. Had he not been tragically killed in the 1994 San Marino GP at Imola (aer he’d le McLaren to drive for rival team Williams), the experience might have spurred involvement in other road car projects.

“It was Ayrton’s dream to have a car with his name on it,” says nephew Bruno Senna, himself a former F1 driver. And now he has.