Car gifted to Senna family expected to fetch up to R100m

A 1994 Williams FW16B driven by Formula One great Ayrton Senna is being auctioned by RM Sotheby’s in New York on November 16.

A landmark piece of F1 history driven by the best driver of his generation, and perhaps of all time, the car is expected to fetch between $4m and $6m (R66m-R100m).

Offered for the first time publicly, the car was gifted by Williams to the Senna family following the team’s 1994 Formula One Constructors’ Championship victory in the year that Senna tragically lost his life in a crash at Imola.

As part of Senna’s contract he was to receive a chassis used during the season if Williams won the championship, and the team honoured the deal by presenting it to his family at the close of the season.

This chassis was tested extensively by the Brazilian three-time world champion and driven in morning warm-up at Interlagos in front of his home fans. The car was also driven by two other F1 world champions: Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill. Hill was Senna’s teammate at the start of the 1994 season and Mansell raced select F1 rounds when his IndyCar schedule allowed.

Today the car remains as one of only two surviving Williams grand prix cars that Senna had driven that year.

Chassis FW16B-01 remained untouched for the following 30 years, with the exception being the addition of Senna’s personal seat, and is in unrestored condition. Acquired by the current owner in 2024, having been purchased from the Senna family, it has remained preserved and unused since.

Powered by a 3.5l V10 engine, the Williams FW16B was designed by engineering genius Adrian Newey and Patrick Head.

Active suspension, traction control and ABS brakes used on the outgoing Williams FW15C were banned for 1994 when Senna joined the team from McLaren. He and teammate Hill were given the FW16, which lacked these electronic driver aids, and Williams’ early adoption of the technology meant they had more ground to make up than the competition when adapting the previous season’s FW15C for the new regulations.

Despite the challenges, Senna qualified on pole for the season opener in Brazil, but crashed out of the race while in second place.

Senna once again showed his class in qualifying by putting the Williams on pole at round 2 in Japan, but was again forced to retire after being hit from behind.

Senna’s final outing in the third round at San Marino marked his third consecutive pole position. Tragically, he would not finish the race and suffered a fatal crash at the Tamburello curve while leading.