McLaren has yet to settle on how it names its supercars. While it started off its modern era with the MP4-12C, which resembled the numbering of its F1 racers, it then switched to a three-digit number indicating the output plus a letter, hence the 650S, 570S and GT, and 720S. However, its range-topper was named the P1 and now, its latest hypercar is the Senna.
When we first heard that McLaren was naming its street-legal 798-hp weapon after one of the most iconic racing drivers, we were confused. The decision didn’t make a lot of sense for a whole lot of reasons and it sounded like Woking was just capitalizing on the late Ayrton’s legacy.
It looks like we weren’t the only ones that were perplexed with the decision, because McLaren has made a video to address why it bestowed its new hypercar with the Senna name, with some of the individuals behind the car giving a brief description on why they believe it lives up to its name.
“His values and his drive and determination, his quest for excellent influenced not only his life but the way we do cars in McLaren,” said the automaker’s engineering design director, Dan Parry-Williams.
“There’s the famous recording of him saying, when you think you’ve done the most you possibly can, you can reach a little higher, go a little further,” he added. “That does exemplify our approach to this car with pushing boundaries we’ve not pushed before.”
Not everyone agrees that the design of the Senna does justice to the iconic F1 champion, but the brand clearly had a good reason for it. And after watching the following video, you might understand the reasoning behind their decision.