Motorsport · Brazil · Competition association · not ownership

Ayrton Senna

1991 McLaren Honda MP4/6 · race no. 1 · Phoenix

Ayrton Senna driving the red-and-white no. 1 McLaren Honda MP4/6 head-on at the 1991 United States Grand Prix in Phoenix.
Ayrton Senna driving the actual race-number-1 McLaren Honda MP4/6 during the March 1991 United States Grand Prix event in Phoenix, photographed by wileynorwichphoto. The exact session and chassis are not identified.Photo: wileynorwichphoto · CC BY 2.0.
Photo details

Joyride serves Flickr’s 1,024 × 689 delivery JPEG byte-for-byte. No Joyride crop, resize, retouching, generation or vehicle reconstruction; responsive presentation may crop displayed edges. Commons records a later contrast-adjusted file, which Joyride does not serve.

Ayrton Senna wearing his helmet in the cockpit at the 1991 United States Grand Prix, photographed by Stuart Seeger.
Ayrton Senna1991 · Identification portraitStuart Seeger · CC BY 2.0.
Photo details

Joyride serves the 1,818 × 1,228 Flickr/Commons original JPEG byte-for-byte. No crop, resize, retouching or generation; a responsive frame may crop displayed edges. This monochrome identification portrait is separate from wileynorwichphoto’s color actual-car photograph.

Number 1 at the start of a title season

Connection
Competition association · not ownership
When
1991 United States Grand Prix · March 10, 1991
Identity
Individual race-number-1 McLaren Honda MP4/6 with RA121E V12 photographed with Senna driving at the March 1991 United States Grand Prix in Phoenix · no chassis number or exact session claimed

Formula 1’s official result places Ayrton Senna first in car no. 1 for McLaren Honda at Phoenix on March 10, 1991. He completed 81 laps in 2:00:47.828, 16.322 seconds ahead of Alain Prost. That establishes the driver, entrant, race number and result—not personal ownership of the racing car.

McLaren identifies the 1991 MP4/6 as a Formula 1 car with eight wins and says its Honda Spec 1 engine triumphed at Phoenix. Honda describes the MP4/6’s high-modulus carbon-fibre/honeycomb monocoque, transverse six-speed transmission and RA121E 3,497 cc 60-degree V12. Those are model-level facts; Joyride does not turn them into a chassis identity for the photographed car.

Photographer wileynorwichphoto identifies this March 1991 image as Senna at the United States Grand Prix. The visible no. 1, Honda branding and Senna helmet support the individual event-car association. The file page does not name a chassis or say whether the frame was made in practice, qualifying, warm-up or the race, so Joyride does not call it the winning chassis or the season’s championship car.

Documented custody

Where the car went next

  1. March 1991Senna and no. 1 photographed in Phoenix

    wileynorwichphoto’s licensed photograph shows Senna driving the no. 1 McLaren Honda MP4/6 during the United States Grand Prix event. It does not identify the chassis or exact session.

  2. March 10, 1991Pole position

    Formula 1 records Senna’s no. 1 McLaren Honda first in qualifying at 1:21.434. This result does not prove which chassis appears in the photograph.

  3. March 10, 1991Season-opening victory

    Formula 1 records Senna winning 81 laps at Phoenix. Joyride ties that result to Senna and race no. 1, not to an unverified chassis number.

  4. 1991 seasonDrivers’ and constructors’ titles

    McLaren and Honda record the MP4/6 title season. That season history is broader than this individual photographed event car and does not establish later custody.

Follow the evidence

Sources for this story

Formula 1 records Ayrton Senna in car no. 1 for McLaren Honda as the March 10, 1991 Phoenix winner; McLaren and Honda identify the MP4/6 and its 1991 V12 specification; and wileynorwichphoto identifies the photograph as Senna at that Grand Prix. No personal ownership, chassis number, exact photographic session, race-winning-chassis identity, current custodian, complete MP4 family coverage, exact Joyride catalog link or compatible game representation is claimed.

  • 1991 United States Grand Prix — race resultFormula 1 · March 10, 1991 result · reviewed 2026-10-05 · external source

    Senna’s no. 1 McLaren Honda victory, 81 laps, elapsed time and winning margin.

  • 1991 United States Grand Prix — qualifyingFormula 1 · March 10, 1991 result · reviewed 2026-10-05 · external source

    Senna’s no. 1 McLaren Honda pole position and 1:21.434 qualifying time.

  • MP4/6McLaren Racing · Official heritage record · reviewed 2026-10-05 · external source

    1991 MP4/6 identity, eight race wins, six-speed gearbox development and the Honda Spec 1 Phoenix victory.

  • 1991 McLaren Honda MP4/6Honda · Official machine history · reviewed 2026-10-05 · external source

    MP4/6 chassis construction, dimensions, transmission and RA121E V12 specification, plus the 1991 title context.

Reviewed

Why this is the actual car
  • Photo identity evidence

    Photographer wileynorwichphoto identifies the March 1991 image as Senna in a McLaren at the United States Grand Prix and licenses the photograph CC BY 2.0.

  • Photo identity evidence

    Formula 1 identifies Senna as the no. 1 McLaren Honda driver and winner at Phoenix on March 10, 1991; it does not identify a chassis.

  • Photo identity evidence

    McLaren identifies the 1991 car as the MP4/6 and records the Spec 1 Phoenix victory.

The matching photographer, venue, date and vehicle history establish the identification; the chassis stamp is not visible in these photographs.