It's been 30 years since Ayrton Senna's death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix behind the wheel of a Williams, and McLaren will mark the milestone with a special livery honoring the Brazilian Formula 1 icon during this weekend's 2024 Monaco Grand Prix.
The livery will wrap the F1 cars of both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri throughout the race weekend. It was developed in parallel with another special livery, known as Senna Sempre, which McLaren's MSO personalization department has applied to a McLaren Senna supercar from McLaren's own heritage collection.
Both liveries sport the green and gold of the Brazilian flag, while the one on the Senna supercar has two depictions of Senna, one of which has him wearing a racing helmet.
The supercar also features a script of the famous Senna quote, “I have no idols. I admire work, dedication and competence.”
McLaren's special livery marking 30th anniversary of Ayrton Senna's death
Though he only lived to the age of 34, Senna is widely regarded by past and present drivers the world over to be one of the, if not the all-time, greatest racers. He managed during his career three Formula 1 world championships, 41 wins, and 80 podium finishes, most of which were earned during his time with McLaren, which ran from 1988 to 1993.
The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix will forever be known as one of the saddest in F1, not only because of Senna’s death but also that of Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger, who crashed his Simtek during qualifying one day prior to Senna's crash. Whether it was due to the design of the cars, mechanical failures, or human error, has never been established. That fateful race helped change the development of not only F1, but motorsports in general, particularly with regard to safety.
Netflix this year will also stream a six-episode mini-series about Senna. The trailer was released on May 1, which was the anniversary of Senna's death.
