1993 F1 McLaren-Cosworth Ford MP4/8A (Ayrton Senna)

Last weekend, during the sale 'Les Grandes Marques à Monaco' by Bonhams, the McLaren-Cosworth Ford MP4/8A Formula racing Single-Seater was sold for € 4,197,500. A true piece of Formula One History. Why ? This is the Formula One car used by Ayrton Senna for his last Monaco GP in 1993, finished at the first place...

History of the 1993 McLaren-Cosworth Ford MP4/8A

Ayrton Senna, the Brazilian three-times World Champion Driver, scored his sixth and last victory in Monaco Grand Prix in 1993 with this car. Just for somes of his driving facts, most consecutive pole positions and frond row starts, the highest % of front-row starts in a season (100% in 1989), 41 victories fron 161 races starts... A true champion. In 1993, Senna was with the Bristish team McLaren with a Ford V8 engine after the end of the partnership with Honda, a transition season and competed against his rival, the French driver, Alain Prost on Williams with Renault V10. For the race in Barcelona, Senna finished 2nd just behind Prost.

In the next Grand Prix, in Monaco, in the free practice, Senna had an accident and crashed into the barriers at 160 kmh.

"For sure I was afraid l was going to lose my legs, that I was going to be very badly hurt". - Arton Senna
But he was well protected and not injured (only his thumb). The engineers could repare the car for the qualification, 3rd place. But Prost, in pole positions, had a 10 seconds pit-stop penalty. So, Senna was just behind Benetton-Ford B193B car of Michael Schumacher who led the race until the lap 33. Senna kept control of the race until the end, sixth victory at Monaco.

Technical specification

With its V8-cylinder Cosworth-Ford 'HB' engine and the self-same McLaren gearbox, serial 2, McLaren MP4/8A-6 seemed a relatively simple car for the Formula 1 Championship of 1993. But thanks the driving abilities of Ayrton Senna, this car had great results during this year. For this Monaco race, the maximum speed up the long hill towards the Casino was 259kmh.