Tributes to Ayrton Senna in Monaco and Imola 2024
Last weekend, the F1 Circus paid tribute to three-time world champion Ayrton Senna. This weekend, the McLaren team is sporting a car in the Brazilian driver’s colors for the Monaco Grand Prix. In both cases, the design of Senna’s S is not the same as that worn by the Brazilian during his lifetime.
It’s been 30 years since the Brazilian champion passed away… and the world of F1 and the Ducati brand have been paying tribute to him in recent weeks. When we think of Senna, we of course think of his yellow helmet, but also of the famous “S” in Senna. Well, this famous S no longer has the same design. But why? We have no idea. We’ve found images of the time when the S appeared and compared them with those of today. It’s definitely not the same. So if anyone on this planet has an explanation, we’d love to hear from you!
The original S of Senna
The June 1994 issue of Sport-Auto magazine featured a tribute to Senna. The magazine’s layout artist even had the idea of using the S in the stylization of the article’s title. In the second image, the S shape can be seen on Ayrton Senna’s T-shirt.
This plate comes from the official store that sold “Senna” products.
Ayrton used to send racing-themed Christmas cards to his McLaren team. This card was sent in 1993, before his departure.
Williams has long paid tribute to the Brazilian driver with the S on the front wing of its F1 cars.
The original S Senna.
The S Senna today
Imola (Bologna, Italy), May 16, 2024: Ducati pays tribute to Ayrton Senna with a limited edition Monster. The S is no longer the same.
The new officially licensed Senna T-shirt.
A change that seems to have taken place in 2022
On closer inspection, this change of S is nothing new. In fact, the first post on the official Senna.com website featuring this S was in June 2022.
The logos on the noses of the Williams F1 cars are another clue to the 2022 changeover. The team sported the Senna logo from 1995 to 2021. At that time, the logo was still the “real” S. Then, starting with the Monaco GP 2022 on May 29, McLaren added the S Senna to its livery in the Halo area. But this time, it’s the new S!
Why change the S Senna?
The choice was made to “change history” from an aesthetic point of view. A choice that will surprise enthusiasts who lived through the Senna era, but will surely fly under the radar of younger generations. In any case, we had to talk about it, because it’s the wrong logo! Feel free to tell us what you think in the comments. I’d love to hear what you think.
Images : Laurent Deheppe ; Senna.com ; Motorsport.com ; telegraph.co.uk ; Facebook McLaren
