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FormulaNerds spent time with McLaren at Goodwood, gaining insight into F1 legend Ayrton Senna.
The McLaren enclosure at Goodwood had one of the larger tents on F1 Avenue. Four cars sat proudly on display. The 1991 McLaren MP4/6 took centre stage. A 2024 show car, it was joined by the title-winning M23 and the M16/D from Indycar, driven by Johnny Rutherford.
As ever, getting to the front of the hub of fans in front of an F1 team Goodwood enclosure required a combination of dexterity and politeness. Once there, we asked for our guide, Sophie Almedia, who opened the barriers, and our tour began.
McLaren is rightly proud of its heritage, taking its history as seriously as the modern day. Last year, it celebrated its 60th anniversary in motorsport, and this year, we were given a tour of some of its most iconic cars.
We stopped at the central point of our time with McLaren, the 1991 MP4/6. This car holds a special place in McLaren’s heart. Delivering Ayrton Senna’s last world championship, 1991 saw a changing of the guard. Having been the leading team in F1 since 1988, the rise of Nigel Mansell and Williams posed a threat to McLaren.
Senna saw off this attempt with brilliant drives. An emotional first home win in front of his loyal Brazilian fans remains legendary today. Although he lost out to Mansell in Barcelona, the footage of Senna and the British driver separated by mere inches on the pit straight is now entrenched in F1 folklore.
Back to 1991
We are then introduced to mechanic Gary Wheeler. Wheeler is a veteran of McLaren, celebrating his 40th year with the team in 2024. Having seen some of McLaren’s most iconic drivers, such as Gerhard Berger, Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard, and Lewis Hamilton, come through the team, we focus our conversation on the most iconic of all: Ayrton Senna.
Our first question on his time in 1991 with the MP4/6 gave us a spectacular insight into how Senna worked with his crew. Once a mechanic started working on the legendary three-time world champion’s car, chances were they would never leave out of loyalty to him:
“I was very fortunate because I worked with Ayrton and the other mechanics the whole six years he was with us. He kept the same car crew, and we swapped engineers now and then, but the guys that worked on his car were completely dedicated and loyal to Ayrton, and he was a fully committed driver, and he liked people who thought along the same lines, he was just committed as he was, so we stayed on it.”
“To be honest, it wasn’t just this year. It was every year from the moment he came in, in 88, in the MP4/4 and right up to the MP4/8, his last race with us with F1, which was fantastic.
“It couldn’t have ended better with his time with us, and you know, every season, every race, every practice, every qualifying was, you know, a little enjoyment and a pleasure to be with him.”
We asked Wheeler to expand on Senna’s no-nonsense style approach to racing and how it pushed the team. Wheeler said this mentality had a direct effect on those who worked with the Brazilian:
“He was an absolutely fantastic bloke. He famously said in an interview he’s not designed to come second, third, fourth or fifth is only designed to win. Once you knew that, that’s all you thought about as well as you know, winning with him.
So there’s nothing we wouldn’t have done, really, for him. We tried to get the best of everything and any little upgrade we could get on the car we could to help him, but he was still one of the fastest drivers I’ve ever worked with.”
With Senna driving the team forward on and off the track, the results spoke for themselves. The Brazilian took seven wins out of 16 races that year, wrapping up the title with one race to spare.
A special home win and relationship
Wheeler said Senna’s first home win in Brazil became a particular highlight of the 1991 season for the team. He believes the raw speed Senna became renowned for came to the fore in 1991:
“Him winning his home Grand Prix, that took a while to do. So that was fantastic that he did that, and and finally got that. But all the wins, and he was definitely in a better place and driving faster than ever, but I just enjoyed them all”.
We asked Wheeler if he had any particularly fond memories of working with Senna. He recalled a conversation with the three-time world champion just before he signed for McLaren. It reaffirmed Senna’s sense of loyalty to those he trusted. Wheeler is still touched by Senna’s actions nearly forty years later:
“There’s thousands, thousands of memories. But the the nice thing is that he did ask. I knew Ayrton before he came to McLaren, and I knew him quite well.
“I said: If you ever come to us, make sure I’m on your car, and he did ask for me to be on his car. So, that was really nice. He’s brilliant”.
The MP4/6 took to the track all weekend at Goodwood, with Senna’s nephew Bruno taking to the track. As we finished off our chat with Wheeler, he reflected on seeing the Brazilian’s iconic helmet once again grace a McLaren:
“It’s brilliant that Bruno’s about to drive the cars because he’s fantastic. It just carries on. It’s been a real honour. It’s perfect. You don’t really want to see anybody else driving it.”
His last word summarised seeing Bruno take his uncle’s car up the famous hill and Ayrton Senna’s career in one word: “Iconic”.
Feature Image Credit: FormulaNerds via James Phillips