McLaren to carry Senna name on F1 car halo

Senna is most famously remembered for his success with McLaren, having earned all three of his world titles for the Woking-based team.

Following the Brazilian’s death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, the Williams team that he was driving for at the time continued to carry his name and famous Senna-S on the nose of its car.

However, ahead of the 2022 season, Williams elected to remove the Senna branding from its car.

Speaking at the launch of the new Williams car, team principal Jost Capito said that the new owners of Williams wanted to move on and change the way it honoured the Brazilian.

"The decision was that we want to move on in the future," Capito said.

"We have a new era, we have a new car. And we refurbished also our museum, and where we have a special area to celebrate Ayrton.

"I think we had to look now in the future and not showing the drivers the 'S' all the time they get in the car and being reminded of what happened.

"Now it's time for the team to move on and be very honourable to Senna and having a very dedicated space in the museum and honour him there."

Senna logo on the front wing of Williams FW42

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

From Monaco, McLaren has elected to continue honouring the Senna name and has added his logo to the side of the car’s halo.

In a short video released by the team on Friday morning, McLaren paid tribute to Senna and made clear how delighted it was to carry the name.

“We are honoured to carry the Ayrton Senna name from the Monaco GP onwards,” it said. “His bravery, commitment and ingenuity continue to set the standard for our team to this day.”

The addition of the Senna name has the full support of the Senna Foundation charity.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown said: “I can’t think of a better race than the Monaco Grand Prix to commence this recognition of Ayrton's life. Having won the grand prix six times, more than any other driver, Ayrton proved that his skill and ability behind the wheel of an F1 car could rarely be matched.

“This addition to our F1 race cars will be permanent, and has been added with the support of the Senna family. It will serve as a constant reminder of Ayrton Senna's sensational talent for us as a team, and for all our fans around the world."

Senna drove for McLaren from 1988 to 1993, winning the world titles in 1988, 1990 and 1991. He won 35 times from his 96 starts for the squad, and took his final victory in F1 for the team at the 1993 Australian GP.