One of Ayrton Senna’s most iconic McLaren-Hondas is set to go under the hammer for eye-watering sums.

The car in question is the 1991 MP4/6, with which the Brazilian champion claimed his first home victory, as well as his third World Championship at the end of the season, fending off Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese in the two Williams cars.

The MP4/6 is especially remembered for the feat Senna pulled off in front of his home crowd. Due to a gearbox failure, the car was stuck in sixth gear for much of the race, forcing the São Paulo native into an almost superhuman physical effort — so exhausting that he needed assistance from others just to get out of the car.

It was, in fact, his first victory on Brazilian soil — the first of seven wins that season, which secured the Brazilian driver his third McLaren-powered World Championship.

Photo: RacePictures

The V12-powered car is now set to go under the hammer with an estimated price tag of $12–15 million, although it isn’t the most expensive F1 car ever sold at auction. That record belongs to the Mercedes W196 Streamliner driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss, which fetched £42.75 million earlier this year.

“The car itself was a masterpiece of engineering, delivered by Chief Designer Neil Oatley under the technical direction of Gordon Murray,” the auction description reads.

“It featured an all-new 3.5-litre V12 engine capable of producing 720 horsepower and revving up to a screaming 13,800 rpm, paired with a six-speed manual gearbox, all housed in a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis and wrapped in carbon-fibre bodywork. “Nearly 35 years later, the MP4/6 remains an analogue dream, emblematic of one of the most celebrated eras in Formula 1.”

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With his dominant victory in Mexico, the Brit became the first driver to bring McLaren back to victory at the Mexican Grand Prix since 1989, when Senna secured the team’s last win at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Norris was reminded of the milestone at the end of the race, which he won by the widest margin of the season, and the Brit naturally felt a deep sense of pride for both himself and the McLaren team.

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