The largest collection of Ayrton Senna cars ever assembled will go on display at the Silverstone Festival later this month.

The exhibition traces Senna’s career, from his early days as a kart driver in Brazil to his F1 championship victories with McLaren. It includes over 25 exhibits at the circuit where he won more races than anywhere else – and at every stage of his career in single-seater racing.

These include the single-seater Van Diemen RF81, with which he won the Formula Ford 1600 championship in his debut year, and the Ralt RT3, which he drove against Martin Brundle in the duel for the 1983 Formula 3 title, from which Senna emerged victorious.

The collection includes 12 F1 cars, including the Toleman TG183B with which he made his Grand Prix debut in 1984, his race-winning JPS Lotus 97T and his title-winning McLaren MP4/5B.

To further honour his legacy, a collection of Ayrton’s trophies, racing suits, helmets and sculptures – made by his niece Lalalli – will be on display at the Silverstone Museum. Former F1 driver Bruno Senna, Ayrton’s nephew, will also drive one of his uncle’s famous racing cars during an exhibition on Sunday 25 August.

Below you’ll find details of the full list of Senna classics, including the individual backstory of each car.

Junior career

Senna first flew to Britain in 1981 to start a career in single-seater racing, signing with the infamous Van Diemen Formula Ford team.

He finished fifth on his debut at Brands Hatch – an impressive result considering he was behind the wheel of an outdated car: the RF80. Shortly after jumping into the cockpit of the updated RF81, Senna quickly became unstoppable, taking 12 race wins in the following 19 races. The Brazilian was crowned Townsend Thoresen and British RAC 1600 champion with races still to go.

Senna continued his form until 1982 in the RF82, with which he won 22 races in all competitions and took the British and European Formula Ford 2000 championships.

In 1983, Senna’s meteoric rise continued in the Marlboro British F3 Championship with West Surrey Racing, where he won a total of 12 races – the first nine in a row and six of them at Silverstone – and beat Martin Brundle by a narrow nine-point margin in the title fight. The instrument of his dominance – the impressive Ralt RT3 – is on display at Silverstone, alongside his other title winners in the junior category: the RF81 and RF82.

formula 1

The bulk of Silverstone’s incredible Senna collection consists of 12 stunning Formula 1 cars – representing all four teams he drove for: Toleman, Lotus, McLaren and Williams – celebrating the Brazilian’s record-breaking decade of Grand Prix racing.

These include the Williams FW08 (with which Senna completed his first F1 test at Donington Park in 1983), the Toleman TG183B (with which he made his Grand Prix debut and scored his first championship point at Kyalami), the Lotus 97T (with which he won his first Grand Prix at Estoril in 1985) and seven variants of the McLaren MP4, with which he won the Drivers’ World Championship in 1988, 1990 and 1991.

Also included in the collection is one of Senna’s most famous cars, the V10-engined MP4/5B – a new end-of-season chassis built specifically for Senna – which he drove for just 400 metres before colliding with title rival Alain Prost at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix. The collision sent both cars into the gravel trap, winning Senna the championship. The MP4/5B chassis was never raced again and is now housed at the McLaren Technology Centre.

Rally cars

The secret test in which Senna gained his first experience in rallying in 1986 is legendary.

The then 26-year-old sneaked away from his F1 drive with Lotus to spend a day gliding sideways through the cloudy Welsh hills in the Cambria Mountains – home to some of the best rally stages in the world – as part of a special performance for Cars and car conversions Magazine.

In total he drove five cars, but only two will be on display at this summer’s Silverstone Festival: an MG Metro 6R4 and a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth – both in their original liveries.

Street cars

Honda engines helped Senna win 35 Grand Prix races and all three of his F1 world championships. In the early 1990s, the Brazilian decided to return to winning ways by working with the Japanese car giant on its first mid-engined supercar: the Honda NSX.

Senna completed demonstration runs at numerous Grand Prix circuits, including Suzuka (see below) and twice at Silverstone. The two NSXs that ran at the latter circuit will be on display at the Silverstone Festival this summer.

Bicycles

Although Senna built his immense reputation on four wheels, his passionate enthusiasm for Ducati motorcycles and his dedication to the children of Brazil eventually culminated in an endorsement deal shortly before his death in May 1994.

Only 300 of the Senna-themed Ducati 916s were made – three of which will be on display at the Silverstone Festival alongside Senna’s four-wheeled machines – and all were sold in record time shortly after their release in 1995, with all proceeds donated to the Ayrton Senna Institute.

Since then, second and third editions of the 916 have been released in memory of the late three-time world champion. On the weekend of the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Ducati unveiled the Monster Senna – a stripped-down version of the standard Monster, painted in the colors of Senna’s helmet.

Tickets for the 2024 Silverstone Festival are still available. Click here for details.