The unique Senna Sempre livery represents a beautiful tribute to legendary Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna, who raced for McLaren between 1988 and 1993 and won three Formula 1 world championships.
The striking livery by McLaren Special Operations (MSO) is featured on a pre-production model of the McLaren Senna from McLaren’s own Heritage collection.
“The team proudly acknowledges and celebrates the extraordinary life and racing legacy of Ayrton Senna with these McLaren liveries.”
Zak Brown – CEO at McLaren Racing
Vibrant colors reflecting Senna’s personality and Brazilian nationality, complemented by elements honoring his racing achievements during the Monaco Grand Prix. The Senna Sempre finish was developed alongside a bespoke livery for the MCL38 Formula 1 cars driven by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Both designs are part of a McLaren initiative to commemorate the brilliant race car designer Ayrton Senna, who passed away thirty years ago (1994). The unique McLaren Senna in Senna Sempre colors will be showcased during the Grand Prix weekend in Monaco.
Thirty years after Ayrton Senna’s death, McLaren celebrates his fantastic legacy with a powerful and emotional tribute to his vibrant personality and outlook on life, as well as his three Formula 1 world titles and five Grand Prix victories with McLaren in Monaco.
In addition to the unique livery for the MCL38 Formula 1 cars driven by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix, McLaren Automotive also created the Senna Sempre finish. This is a unique hand-painted tribute to Ayrton Senna’s talent and racing achievements, applied to a pre-production model of the McLaren Senna from McLaren’s own Heritage collection.
The Senna Sempre edition was designed in the context of McLaren’s ongoing collaboration with the Ayrton Senna Institute. It not only showcases the unparalleled craftsmanship in paintwork that McLaren Automotive uniquely delivers through McLaren Special Operations (MSO), but also the unique visuals paying homage to Ayrton Senna’s Formula 1 career, his relentless pursuit of perfection, his Brazilian nationality, and McLaren’s racing history, including the streets of Monaco. This is expressed in bright and bold paint colors and bespoke interior treatments.
“Ayrton Senna was born to race. His passion for performance and perfection lives on at McLaren. The McLaren Senna bears his name and embodies his spirit. The ultimate McLaren for road use, which also offers track performance, captures Ayrton’s infectious energy in this masterfully detailed and inspiring model. We are working with McLaren Racing to honor Senna’s racing legacy thirty years after his death. This is also a tribute to Ayrton’s unique racing capabilities, and the street circuit of Monaco that he mastered like no other. Monaco is the perfect place to reflect on his unique achievements.” Michael Leiters, CEO of McLaren Automotive
“The team proudly acknowledges and celebrates the extraordinary life and racing legacy of Ayrton Senna with these McLaren liveries. Senna is still revered and respected as the greatest icon in Formula 1 history and McLaren’s most decorated driver. His impact on McLaren is immense, not only because of his racing records but also through his presence within the team and now through his legacy. It is an honor to race for him in his green, yellow, and blue colors and on his most successful circuit.” Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing
“It is an honor to recognize Ayrton with these liveries, in collaboration with both McLaren Racing and McLaren Automotive. His iconic colors on both cars are a fantastic way to celebrate his life and legacy. McLaren meant a lot to him, and together they reaped the many successes for which he is still remembered by so many. It will be special to see the cars racing through the streets of Monaco, a circuit that brought him so much joy and many victories.” Bianca Senna, Senna Brands
The McLaren Senna was unveiled in December 2017 and is the most extreme road car McLaren has ever built. Its design as the ultimate track car for the road is entirely focused on uncompromising performance.
In realizing the Senna Sempre, McLaren gave a pre-production model of the McLaren Senna, part of McLaren’s own Heritage collection, a unique look. The car was used to demonstrate the top performance and immersive character of the subsequent production models of the McLaren Senna. The car was extensively captured on camera as part of the original launch campaign and was one of the cars used during the global media test drive at the Estoril Grand Prix circuit in June 2018. McLaren retained the car as a pre-production model. The McLaren Senna has since been used for high-profile performance tests in the press and key McLaren moments, such as the royal opening of the McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC) in Sheffield, attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (now the Prince and Princess of Wales) and HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
With Ayrton Senna’s legacy and philosophy as inspiration, the McLaren Senna carries 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 appears in the complex paintwork, as one of the many visual tributes to Ayrton Senna that align with the details of the specific MCL38 Formula 1 car. The logo is visible on the blue panel bridging the front air vents, complementing the Senna script on the bright green rear wing.
The chosen paint colors for the Senna Sempre livery reflect the colors of the Brazilian flag with bright yellow, green, and blue accents. These were created using a new wash technique developed by MSO. This technique ensures the shades blend together without creating additional colors while evoking the speed and movement of a waving flag. The same effect was applied to the McLaren logo on the car’s nose.
The green and white lines around the glasshouse and the vent below the windshield are directly inspired by details from Ayrton Senna’s iconic racing helmet.
On the panels covering the large air intakes on the side of the car, MSO technicians integrated two different images of Ayrton Senna. The dot-matrix effect, hand-applied and requiring exceptional attention to detail, comes to life from a distance, showing the racing legend on and off the track.
In contrast to the glossy paint finish, visible carbon fiber panels with a satin finish adorn the car’s interior and exterior. Inside, this complements the custom yellow Alcantara upholstery with green perforations and the white 12 o’clock mark on the car’s steering wheel. The thresholds of the black Alcantara-trimmed doors are adorned with Ayrton Senna’s signature and a quote expressing his ethics and philosophy: “I have no idols. I admire work, dedication, and competence.”
With a record of six wins at the Monaco Grand Prix, Ayrton Senna’s name is synonymous with the most prestigious Formula 1 race. His remarkable achievements on the iconic street circuit are marked by watermarks of the racing numbers carried by his Formula 1 cars for the five consecutive wins he achieved in Monaco with McLaren between 1989 and 1993.
McLaren’s tribute to Senna on the track, by the McLaren Formula 1 team with which he won his three world championships, honors his life and legacy with a bespoke, one-off livery for the MCL38 race car. The vibrant yellow, green, and blue livery is inspired by Ayrton Senna’s racing helmet, seen in the evocative Senna Sempre artwork. This livery replaces the standard colors of the McLaren Formula 1 cars racing in Monaco.
The unique McLaren Senna in Senna Sempre colors will be showcased during the extended Grand Prix weekend in Monaco.
