Senna’s 1991 McLaren MP4/6 Heads to Auction
Senna mclaren f1 auction
One of the most evocative machines in Grand Prix history is stepping back into the spotlight. RM Sotheby’s is offering the 1991 McLaren MP4/6, chassis MP4/6/1, the car Ayrton Senna drove to his first—and most emotional—home victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix. More than a championship-winning tool, this McLaren is a touchstone of an era when driver grit and mechanical purity defined Formula 1.
Built as McLaren’s prototype for the 1991 season, MP4/6/1 paired cutting-edge aerodynamics with a ferocious Honda 3.5-liter V12. That engine, producing around 720 bhp at 13,500 rpm, screamed through a six-speed sequential manual gearbox—an all-conquering combination that would become the last V12, manual-shift package to win the Formula 1 World Championship. In this very car, Senna seized pole and led every lap at Interlagos, transforming a race into a national moment.
The Brazilian Grand Prix that year has entered legend not simply for the victory, but for the manner in which it was earned. As the laps wound down, the gearbox began to fail, progressively denying gears until Senna was left to wrestle the car around the circuit effectively stuck in sixth. The physical toll was enormous; the mental focus, absolute. He held off Riccardo Patrese by just 2.9 seconds, the checkered flag greeting a driver who could barely lift his arms but who had given everything to win at home. Senna later called it the hardest-fought race of his life. The triumph helped propel him to his third—and final—World Championship, sealing the legacy of both driver and machine.
MP4/6/1’s status in the McLaren canon is singular. As the prototype, it formed the basis for a dominant campaign, then returned to work as a development and test car throughout 1991 under the hands of Senna and teammate Gerhard Berger. Its Grand Prix record is spotless: one start, one win. After its frontline duties, the car retired to McLaren’s celebrated heritage collection, where it would remain, carefully preserved, for nearly three decades.
In 2020, the car left factory stewardship for the first time, becoming the prized possession of its sole private owner. To ensure it remained more than a static artifact, renowned McLaren specialists Lanzante Ltd recommissioned MP4/6/1 to running and driving condition. Even so, the car has neither been publicly shown nor driven since that work—an extraordinary state of originality and freshness for a Formula 1 legend.
For collectors and enthusiasts, RM Sotheby’s is presenting the car within its exclusive “Sealed – Forever, Senna” sale, with bidding open from December 8 to December 11, 2025. The estimate—$12 million to $15 million—reflects not only the rarity and provenance, but the emotional charge carried by a machine that delivered one of the most unforgettable sporting moments of the modern era. Ahead of the auction, the car will be displayed at RM Sotheby’s events in London and Abu Dhabi, offering a rare chance to see, up close, the cockpit where Senna’s mastery met mechanical might.
The appeal of MP4/6/1 goes beyond statistics. This is Formula 1 at its most visceral: a high-revving V12 that speaks in symphonic tones, a manual gearbox demanding precision and bravery, a chassis that rewards commitment rather than forgiving mistakes. It represents the final flowering of an analog age before electronics and automation reshaped the sport, a time when the driver’s hands danced on a shift lever and his feet choreographed every corner. To sit in MP4/6/1 is to feel how thin the line was between victory and defeat—and how brilliantly Senna walked it.
As an artifact, the car is a living chapter of motorsport history. As an object, it is impeccably significant and exquisitely engineered. And as a symbol, it carries the spirit of a driver whose intensity, skill, and humanity continue to inspire. Opportunities to acquire such a piece are vanishingly rare; opportunities to acquire one directly tied to a career-defining moment are rarer still. MP4/6/1 is exactly that: a race-winner, a prototype, a developmental cornerstone, and a relic of a champion’s final title.
The forthcoming sale is more than an auction; it is a handover of guardianship. Whoever acquires MP4/6/1 will take responsibility for a car that speaks to generations—about courage under pressure, about the drama of sport, and about the beauty of uncompromising engineering. In every sense, it is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to own a tactile, resonant link to Ayrton Senna and the enduring magic of 1991.
