MCLAREN CREATES STUNNING AYRTON SENNA TRIBUTE CARS FOR THE 2024 MONACO GRAND PRIX - AND ONE WILL BE RACING!
McLaren is marking 30 years of Ayrton Senna’s incredible performance legacy with a powerful and emotional tribute that visually represents the vibrant personality he had as well as his outlook on life, not to mention his three Formula 1 World Championship titles and five Monaco Grand Prix victories with McLaren. A parallel with the one-off livery for the MCL38 Formula 1 cars which will be driven by team drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix as parent company McLaren Automotive celebrates Ayrton Senna’s talent, racing achievements and more with the Senna Sempre livery. It’s a unique, hand-painted tribute to Ayrton applied on a pre-production McLaren Senna from McLaren’s own heritage collection. The Senna Sempre livery has been created as part of McLaren’s ongoing association with the Ayrton Senna Institute. It showcases not only the peerless paint mastery and craftmanship that McLaren Automotive is uniquely placed to deliver through McLaren Special Operations but also distinctive visuals honouring the Formula 1 career of Ayrton Senna, his tenacious drive for perfection, Brazilian nationality and McLaren racing history – including on the streets of Monaco – through bright and bold paint colours and bespoke interior treatments. “Ayrton Senna was born to race, and his passion for performance and perfection lives on at McLaren. The McLaren Senna bears his name and embodies his spirit – it is the ultimate road-going McLaren for focused track performance, and this masterfully detailed inspiration captures Ayrton’s infectious energy. Our collaboration with McLaren Racing to honour the Senna racing legacy 30 years on is a shared celebration of Ayrton’s unique racing abilities, and the Monaco street circuit he made his own is the perfect place to reflect on his incredible achievements.” says Michael Leiters, Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Automotive. In creating the Senna Sempre, McLaren transformed the visuals of a pre-production McLaren Senna that is part of the company’s heritage collection and was used for vehicle attribute validation of the high levels of performance and engagement in the McLaren Senna production models that followed. This is the same car that was captured on camera for the car’s original launch campaign at the Estoril Grand Prix circuit in June 2018.
Retained by McLaren as a pre-production car, it has since featured in high-profile media performance tests and been part of landmark McLaren moments, including the royal opening of the McLaren Composites Technology Centre in Sheffield that was attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (now the Prince and Princess of Wales), and HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Inspired by Ayrton Senna’s legacy and philosophy, the McLaren Senna bears both the name of the legendary Formula 1 driver and champion and the Senna ‘Double S’ logo alongside the McLaren badge. The Double S also features within the intricate paintwork, as one of many individual visual tributes to Ayrton Senna that align with details on the bespoke MCL38 Formula 1 car; the logo is visible on the blue panel bridging the vents housed within the front clamshell, which complements the Senna script on the bright green rear wing. Paints selected for the Senna Sempre livery reflect the colours of the Brazilian flag, with bright yellow, green and blue tones brought together using a wash technique newly developed by MSO. This technique allows the paints to blend into each other without creating additional colours, while also evoking speed and the movement of a waving flag. This effect is also applied to the McLaren badge on the nose of the car. Green and white border lines running around the car’s glasshouse and the venting at the base of the windscreen are directly inspired by the detailing on Ayrton Senna’s iconic race helmet design. On the panels shrouding the large air intakes on the side of the car, MSO’s paint technicians have created two distinct representations of Ayrton Senna. Applied by hand and requiring exceptional attention to detail, the dot matrix effect comes to life from a distance, depicting him on and off track. Contrasting with the bright gloss paint finishes, satin finish exposed visual carbon fibre panels also feature. Inside, this complements bespoke yellow Alcantara upholstery with green perforations and a white 12 o’clock marker on the car’s steering wheel. The sills of the black Alcantara upholstered doors are decorated with Ayrton Senna’s signature alongside his quotation explaining his ethics and philosophy; “I have no idols. I admire work, dedication and competence.”
Take a look at the YouTube video that shows off the awesome tribute livery that McLaren has created for its Formula 1 car ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. There is also an accompanying awesome livery that was created to cover a McLaren Senna car - and it does look damn good: Ayrton Senna Inspired Special Livery! | McLaren's 2024 Monaco Grand Prix Livery | McLaren
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