Senna’s 1991 Brazilian GP-winning McLaren MP4/6 up for auction

The McLaren MP4/6 that carried Ayrton Senna to one of the most emotional and iconic victories of his Formula 1 career – his first win on home soil at the 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix – is set to go under the hammer.

RM Sotheby’s has announced that the legendary MP4/6 – chassis number 1 – will be sold through a sealed-bid auction, with estimates ranging between $12 million and $15 million. The Honda-powered car, regarded as a jewel of Formula 1’s analogue era, is being offered directly from its sole private owner.

For fans and collectors alike, this is more than a winning car or engineering marvel – it’s a piece of Senna’s soul, a relic of a golden era in motorsport.

The Machine That Tested a Champion’s Limits

Senna first tested the McLaren MP4/6 in early 1991, before going on to claim his third and final world championship with the team that same year. But the car’s most defining moment came in just its second race, at Interlagos, where Senna’s determination, pain, and faith combined in one of the most heroic drives in F1 history.

With his gearbox failing and torrential rain closing in, Senna nursed the stricken car home – stuck in sixth gear – to finally win in front of his home crowd.

“In the closing laps I just had to leave the car in top gear,” the late great Brazilian recalled after the race. “The rain didn’t help me, and I was really hoping they’d stop the race. In the slow corners I was pulling only 2000 rpm and the engine was nearly stalling.

“In the fast corners the car always wanted to push straight on. I saw Patrese coming and didn’t think I would make it, but I felt it was my duty to win here. I pushed the car regardless of the rain, but I was getting cramps and muscle spasms in my upper body.

“Partly that was because the safety harness was so tight, but also because of emotion! By the finish I had nothing left. God gave me this race.”

That victory, his 27th in Formula 1, became one of Senna’s most revered moments – a display of raw talent and sheer willpower that remains etched in the sport’s history.

A Masterpiece of Engineering and Emotion

The MP4/6 was a technical tour de force – the last Formula 1 car to win a championship with a manual gearbox and a pure V12 engine, supplied by Honda.

“The car itself was a masterpiece of engineering delivered by Chief Designer Neil Oatley under the technical direction of Gordon Murray,” RM Sotheby’s noted in its auction listing.

“It featured an all-new 3.5-litre V12 engine capable of producing 720 horsepower and spinning to a screaming 13,800 rpm, mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, all housed in a carbon fibre monocoque chassis and clothed with carbon fibre bodywork.”

Following its retirement from active competition, the car was retained by McLaren for nearly 30 years before being restored to full running condition by McLaren Heritage.

It was sold to its current owner in 2020, marking one of the rare occasions an ex-Senna championship-winning car has ever entered private hands.

“Nearly 35 years later, the MP4/6 remains an analogue dream, emblematic of one of the most celebrated eras in Formula 1,” RM Sotheby’s added.

• Read also: When Senna's gain was matched by his pain

For collectors and fans alike, the MP4/6 represents far more than a race car – it embodies the spirit of Senna himself: fierce, brilliant, and unrelentingly human.

The car that Senna described as a gift from God is now set to find a new home — still whispering echoes of that electrifying day in São Paulo when one man’s faith and fire conquered the odds, and a nation roared in unison.

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