McLaren launches £750k Senna road car - Celebrates F1's most committed racer

The stories of McLaren and Ayrton Senna are inextricably entwined and so it was inevitable that as the UK based supercar manufacturer expands its range, it would sooner or later name a car after F1's greatest hero.

The McLaren Senna will be seen in public in March at the Geneva Motor Show and will start being assembled next Autumn, but today McLaren has released some details and some images of the £750,000 projectile that will be limited to a run of just 500 cars.

It is powered by a twin-turbocharged V8 of 789hp, making it the most powerful McLaren road car engine ever. It has 590 lb ft or torque. It has carbon monocoque and even sports a double diffuser.

"The ambition for the McLaren Senna is for it to be the best road-legal track car, setting a new benchmark for circuit excellence with track prowess absolutely taking precedence," says McLaren.

"Our family is extremely proud of the naming of the new Ultimate Series McLaren Senna," said Bruno Senna, Ayrton's nephew and a McLaren brand ambassador.

"This is the first project that really connects with Ayrton’s racing spirit and performance.

"The McLaren Senna honours my uncle because it is so utterly dedicated to delivering a circuit experience that allows a driver to be the best they can possibly be."

I spoke to Bruno about his uncle at the FIA Hall of Fame night in Paris on Monday. He was there to collect the induction certificate for Ayrton, who won the 1988, 90 and 91 World Championships for McLaren.

Bruno talked about Ayrton's commitment being his most remarkable quality; that whatever he did he gave 100% commitment to it, whether it was a new project or driving a qualifying lap or even taking a corner. Behind it, Bruno said, was an unshakable passion for motor racing.

I had always imagined that Senna would become a business leader or politician later in life, once he hung up his helmet, but Bruno said that he wasn't sure and thought Ayrton might have had problems adjusting to a life outside of driving racing cars on the limit.

Because he never grew old and because h died at the height of his powers, Senna is immortalised as a driver forever on the limit.

During the Hall of Fame ceremony, Bruno also paid tribute to Senna's nemesis, Alain Prost, who was also there to collect his induction certificate. Prost explained in detail how he and Senna had buried the hatchet after Prost retired and how they had long conversations in the months before Senna's death, in May 1994, about each other's childhoods and what had shaped them to be the men and the competitors that they were.

Bruno said that his family's view was that without Prost setting the bar of excellence so high, Senna would not have reached the levels of performance he did. The two needed each other to create what is undoubtedly one of the greatest rivalries, if not the greatest, in F1 history.

What do you think of the new McLaren Senna? What are your favourite Senna memories? Leave your comments in the section below<