Historic Senna McLaren Up for $15M Auction

During the 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix, Ayrton Senna’s McLaren began experiencing gearbox issues: 3rd and 5th gears failed to engage, and on the final laps even slow corners had to be negotiated in 6th gear, causing the Honda V12 engine to nearly stall several times. His teammate at Williams, Riccardo Patrese, quickly closed the gap but was unable to overtake Senna due to transmission problems on his own car.

As a result, Senna crossed the finish line first with a margin of 2.991 seconds, securing a long-awaited victory on his home circuit. After the race, he could barely exit the cockpit and later described this win as the most significant achievement of his career.

The McLaren chassis on which Senna won the race was stored at the team’s base for nearly 30 years before entering a private collection. It is now being offered for sale through the RM Sotheby’s auction house, with an estimated value of $12–15 million. The auction will take place from December 8 to 11.