McLaren Senna sets new lap record at Donington

Donington 1993 was perhaps Ayrton's most famous win; McLaren has paid tribute in appropriately fast fashion

By Matt Bird / Wednesday, 29 May 2024 / Loading comments

The 30th anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s passing won’t have escaped your attention in recent weeks. Some of the tributes have perhaps been better than others, to put it politely. Here’s one of the good 'uns: McLaren has taken a Senna to Donington Park, where one of Ayrton’s most famous victories took place, and claimed an unofficial production car lap record. With Bruno Senna at the wheel. Obviously.

A quick recap of why the European GP of 1993 was so momentous; in horribly wet conditions, Senna went from fifth to first in his McLaren MP4/8 on the opening lap, finding some kind of grip where none should have existed. It’s been called the ‘Lap of the Gods’ on more than one occasion, making the rest of the field look a bit daft.

Senna won the race by nearly 90 seconds, lapping every other driver apart from second place - Donington Park in 1993 wasn’t so much a win as a domination. Nobody caught Ayrton Senna in the rain. A Sonic the Hedgehog winners trophy (because SEGA sponsored the European GP) only cemented the race’s reputation in history as one of the greats.

The lap record set by Senna 31 years ago was 1:18.029, though that did include using the pitlane back when there weren’t speed limits. Prior to that, his fastest time was 1:20.413. It says a lot about just how fast those F1 racers were even in the early '90s that the Senna road car could only lay down a 1:30.5 in much better conditions. And that’s the most track-focused of all the McLaren Automotive Ultimate hypercars.

Bruno said of the lap: “Donington is one of the fun tracks and of course the weather can play a part here, but today was quite different to the 1993 race! In a high downforce, super-lightweight car like the McLaren Senna you can really feel the amazing flow and change of elevation – and of course the speed!

“The McLaren and Senna names are intertwined so, so strongly. Having this work together to bring the McLaren Senna out, a car that definitely would have made Ayrton extremely proud, is a great achievement.”. McLaren CEO Michael Leiters described the lap as “a special moment.” Those wishing to create their own will be pleased to know that a few of the 500 Senna made reside for sale on PH, priced from £750k. This one is a McLaren Qualified car, barely used since first registration five years ago - you’d nearly double its tally driving from London to Donington Park for your own lap of the gods. It’s priced at £1.2m…