Alonso preps for Madrid with a drive through Senna’s history

For Fernando Alonso, the best way to prepare for a new chapter in Formula 1 history is apparently to take a little spin through the old one.

Ahead of Madrid’s inaugural Spanish Grand Prix, the Aston Martin veteran headed to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this week and opened the doors to his remarkable personal collection, putting an eclectic selection of historic machinery through its paces.

But among the F1, GT and DTM machinery, two cars carried a particularly potent piece of racing history: machines once raced by Ayrton Senna.

Alonso climbed behind the wheel of Senna’s 1984 Toleman, the car in which the Brazilian announced himself to the wider F1 world with that extraordinary wet-weather drive at Monaco. He also sampled the 1989 McLaren MP4-5, a machine from Senna’s championship-winning era and one of the defining cars of Formula 1’s golden age.

For a driver whose own career has stretched across F1, Le Mans, IndyCar and even the Dakar Rally, this was clearly more than an exercise in showing off some very expensive toys.

“A very special day at Circuit de Barcelona, enjoying some of my collection cars where they really belong: on the track.

F1, historic, GTs AND DTM. Top day. Because collecting is also preserving, enjoying and keeping that history alive.”

That last sentiment perhaps explains Alonso’s collection better than any price tag — reportedly worth around £32 million. These are not museum pieces destined to gather dust. Alonso wants to hear them roar, feel them move and, for a few precious laps, bring their history back to life.

And with Madrid awaiting him this weekend, the timing feels particularly poignant. Alonso has yet to confirm whether he will race beyond 2026. If he doesn’t, his latest trip down memory lane may have been a fitting prelude to what could be his final Spanish Grand Prix on home soil.