McLaren Senna – how it earns that name

Given all 500 cars sold out before anyone had seen it McLaren won’t be losing much sleep, the final production slot auctioned off for £2m and the money donated to the Ayrton Senna Institute back in his native Brazil.

If the P1 was a shape-shifting all-rounder the fact several owners of its track-only GTR derivative have had them converted into road cars clearly inspired McLaren. As the next instalment in the Ultimate Series story, this car is – as McLaren freely admits – fixated on-track performance at the expense of all-around usability. But for all the minimalism and focus retains the familiar multiple driver modes and engagement that makes it a viable road car too. Albeit turned up to 11.  

Comparisons with the hybrid P1 remain inevitable, especially given apparently similar on-paper performance. In reality, the Senna is less of a P1 successor and more an expression of how far the 720S can go when stripped back to the raw essentials. The 720’s Monocage structure – itself inspired by the P1 – is further modified and now called Monocage III. The 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 and seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox are essentially the same, the engine uprated to 800hp and 590lb ft of torque. There’s no electrical assistance, the Senna’s speed coming from a dry kerb weight of just 1,198kg, 85kg less than the equivalent figure for the 720S and nearly 200kg less than a P1.

Carbon fibre is signature McLaren technology, the firm always keen to point out it was the one to introduce the material to F1 with the MP4/1 in 1981. And it’s everywhere in the Senna. That massive rear wing weighs less than 5kg but can support 100 times its own weight in downforce while complex mouldings mean the door skins weigh half as much as before. Even the skeletal seat shells weigh just 3.4kg each. 

Downforce is another McLaren hallmark, the most obvious manifestation of that being the active rear wing towering incongruously above the rear deck of the car. It goes beyond that though, aero tuning informing every twist and turn of the car’s unapologetic lines. 720S style ‘eyesocket’ lights have been opened up, the resulting channels containing active vanes that can vary the airflow to maintain the aero balance with the rear wing. Elsewhere airflow is drawn between the front wheel arch ‘pods’ and A-pillars to feed the gaping side intakes, before being expelled through intricate carbon fibre louvres on the rear deck. 

Slammed to the floor in its Race setting via an evolution of the P1’s variable height RaceActive Chassis Control suspension the Senna sucks itself to the track and creates a ‘virtual’ floor lower still to direct air over the double diffuser and deliver an astonishing 800kg of downforce at 155mph – 200kg more than the P1 at the same speed. 

And while it’s easy to get bogged down in the statistics and technology the one word that crops up time and again when talking to the engineers is engagement, a quality that makes all McLarens as fun to drive at road speeds as they are flat out on the track. From the rigidly mounted engine that transmits every last rpm to the seat of your pants through to the slop-free steering communicating every last twitch of feedback, the Senna promises to be an all-encompassing thrill-ride, those who’ve driven it saying the confidence derived from the chassis and aero makes it easy for anyone to enjoy. Hopefully meaning you can appreciate a car bearing Senna’s name without the need for his god-like skills behind the wheel.