Hamilton will drive Senna's McLaren in Brazil, leading tributes to F1 legend

Lewis Hamilton will pay tribute to his childhood hero at this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with the seven-time world champion set to lap the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Ayrton Senna’s title-winning McLaren MP4/5B.

The car that the three-time world champion drove to six grand prix victories, five podium finishes — one of which came at Interlagos — and a drivers’ world title in 1990 is scheduled to roar back to life on Saturday at 5pm local time (8pm GMT) after all formal on-track activities have been completed. That includes the sprint and grand prix qualifying.

It will lead a series of tributes to Senna over the course of the weekend, marking 30 years since the Brazilian lost his life at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Hamilton has made no secret of his admiration for Senna since he first joined the F1 grid with McLaren in 2007 — dubbing the Brazilian his “genuine hero” during a BBC interview in 2014. But his tour of Interlagos in the MP4/5B was supposed to be kept secret.

“I had a white suit with his helmet, so I’d go out and drive the lap and it would look like it was him out there,” said Hamilton. “But somehow it got out there. It’s impossible to keep these things quiet.”

Hamilton – a three-time winner at Interlagos – was also made an honorary citizen of Brazil in 2022, and the Briton expects lapping his icon’s car in front a ‘home’ crowd to be an “emotional experience”.

He will be following in the similar wheeltracks of four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel in Sao Paulo, who earlier this year led a Senna tribute of his own.

Vettel first toured Imola in the McLaren MP4/8 while waving the Austrian flag of Roland Ratzenberger, who was killed on the same race weekend as Senna. He then led a run around the track with other paddock members, stopping at Senna’s famous trackside statue, and encouraged several drivers to adopt balaclavas adorned with the colours of the Brazilian flag.

Tributes continued in Monaco, as McLaren opted for a Senna-themed yellow, black and blue livery.

This weekend’s event are part of the weekend’s ‘Senna Sempre (Senna Forever)’ event, commemorating the anniversary of his death.

While some details are still to be confirmed, we already know that Senna will be remembered on the podium.

Pirelli’s Senna tribute

Pole position for the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix could be contested by as many as five drivers from three different constructors: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of McLaren and Max Verstappen of Red Bull.