It’s rare for a championship-winning Formula 1 car to go on sale. It’s rarer still for an Ayrton Senna Formula 1 car. A championship-winning Formula 1 car driven by Ayrton Senna coming up for sale, then? Big news in its own right.
Even more so when it’s the car that he won his very ever home Grand Prix in. Yep, no further introduction needed – Senna’s McLaren MP4/6 from the 1991 Brazilian GP is heading to auction.
Credit: RM Sotheby’s
In 1991, Senna was in a class of his own as he charged towards his third and final championship. Nigel Mansell, in his Williams FW14 put up the closest thing to a fight, but the Brazilian was untouchable. Even teammate Gerhard Berger in equal machinery couldn’t come near.
Of his eight race wins that year, it was one that came early in the 1991 season that lives in the memory more than most. This would be Ayrton Senna’s eighth Brazilian Grand Prix, having so far failed to win any of the previous seven attempts
Mansell had led for the early part of the race before Senna took the lead and had looked comfortable when the Brit’s gearbox failed him on lap 59, only for Senna himself to lose fourth gear completely with 10 laps to go. It seemed fate would fall against him yet again.
Credit: RM Sotheby’s
At that point, though, the heavens opened with a dramatic downpour that put Senna in his natural habitat of a wet race track. Though the Brazilian fought hard, Williams’ second driver Ricardo Patrese brought a 20-second gap down to just four by the final lap, at which point Senna found his car stuck in sixth gear.
The battle with his car that unfolded is one of the best moments F1 has ever seen, as Senna managed to somehow nurse the MP4/6 across the line in first place with just under 3 seconds to spare from Paterese.
Now, that car will be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s in the lead up to this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It had remained in McLaren’s ownership until 2020, before being sold to a private collector, and has recently had a refresh courtesy of specialists Lanzante.
Credit: RM Sotheby’s
While we suspect its next owner will never turn a wheel in anger, the Honda 3.5-litre V12 is in a race-ready condition, producing 720bhp and screaming all the way up to 13,800rpm. All the equipment to start it up is included, too, so no excuses.
Interested? We hope you’ve got deep pockets. It’s estimated to sell for up to £11.5m.
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