close global

Welcome to GPFans

CHOOSE YOUR COUNTRY

  • NL
  • GB
  • IT
  • ES-MX
  • US
  • GB
Ayrton Senna

Iconic Ayrton Senna F1 car that he NEVER won a race in up for auction at £3.3m

Ayrton Senna — Photo: © IMAGO

Iconic Ayrton Senna F1 car that he NEVER won a race in up for auction at £3.3m

Ayrton Senna is a three-time world champion of the sport

Sam Cook
Digital Journalist
Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

An F1 car which was driven in the 1980s by racing legend Ayrton Senna is available for fans to buy - if they have a spare £3million.

The car isn't even one of the many in which Senna won a grand prix, with there only being one full season across the Brazilian's illustrious career in which he didn't claim a victory.

Senna claimed 41 race wins across his career, and three world championship titles, earned with McLaren in 1988, 1990 and 1991.

But this latest auction from RM Sotheby's takes us back to Senna's debut season in the sport, with the Toleman Racing team.

The 1984 Toleman TG183B was driven by Senna on his official F1 debut at the 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix, a race that he was not able to finish.

The TG183B model was driven by Senna on three further occasions in 1984 - in South Africa, Belgium and San Marino - before the Toleman team switched to the Toleman TG184 chassis for the rest of the season.

It means that Senna also claimed his first ever world championship points in this model that is up for auction, finishing sixth at both the South African and Belgian Grands Prix that year.

More recently, the Toleman car has been driven around Brands Hatch by Martin Brundle for a 2022 Sky F1 documentary, and was driven around Silverstone in 2024 by Pierre Gasly on the 40th anniversary of Senna's first race and the 30th anniversary of his untimely passing at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

The legendary car is now in Monaco, and has been listed on the RM Sotheby's website with an estimated sale price of between €2.8million-€3.8million (£2.4million-£3.2million).

READ MORE: F1 loses big as ‘$200m’ cost of 2026 race cancellations revealed

Senna's career following 1984 season

Senna had originally signed a three-year contract with Toleman, but his head was turned by the potential of a move to Lotus, who had previously been a championship-winning outfit in the late 70s.

The young Brazilian moved to Lotus, where he would spend the next three years, racking up his first six career race victories in that time.

Senna then moved to McLaren in 1988 to partner Alain Prost in an all-star driver lineup, and the pair battled hard for the 1988 and 1989 drivers' championships, before Prost moved to Ferrari.

Senna racked up two more championship titles after Prost had left in 1990 and 1991, but missed out to Prost - now at Williams - in 1993.

Brazilian legend Senna then opted himself for a move to Williams ahead of the 1994 season, beginning the season with three consecutive pole positions despite Williams having an underperforming car.

Senna sadly was unable to finish the 1994 season, however, after a fateful weekend at the San Marino GP where both he and Roland Ratzenberger lost their lives in separate incidents at the Imola track. Senna was just 34 years of age.

READ MORE: Former Ferrari F1 chief plots team return with message to Lewis Hamilton's boss

Related

F1 Ayrton Senna
Ontdek het op Google Play