Earlier this month fans at a rainy Brazilian Grand Prix were treated a rare event. The McLaren-Honda MP4/5 of hometown hero Ayrton Senna took to the track with V10 engine wailing. It was the very car in which Senna, arguably the greatest F1 driver of his era, won his second world championship. This time around, it was Lewis Hamilton, greatest driver of the modern age, behind the wheel.
The drive commemorated the 30th anniversary of Senna’s death in May 1994 at Imola, after which Brazil had three days of national mourning, with approximately 500,000 fans taking over the streets during his funeral. Between the years of 1988-92, McLaren-Honda won 44 of the 80 races they entered. Senna was key to this success, and took home world champion honors in 1988, 1990, and 1991.
While driving this historic machine, Hamilton slowed to grab a Brazilian flag (9:39 in video), mirroring Senna doing the same thing after winning at his home circuit in 1991. Hamilton himself made history at Interlagos in 2008 when he became the youngest driver at the time to win an F1 championship, after making a last-lap pass to place fifth and win the title by a single point. In 2022 Brazil gave Hamilton an honorary citizenship.
After the drive, Hamilton admitted to driving more laps in the MP4/5 than he was supposed to. “It’s very, very emotional, naturally,” said Hamilton. “I was just revisiting my childhood as I was watching [Senna] race here as a kid. Hearing that sound and… watching him drive here, winning that race, I just couldn’t believe that I just had that chance to do that, and it was really the greatest honor of my career.”
