Lewis Hamilton has been confirmed as the mystery driver of the planned Ayrton Senna 1990 McLaren 1990 MP4/5B demo at the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The demo, planned by F1 and McLaren, will pay tribute to the late three-time F1 champion, with his car on display across the weekend and a tribute run planned for Saturday.
Shrouded in secrecy, the run would see a driver be revealed moments before stepping into the car and wowing the crowds by reuniting the MP4/5B with Interlagos.
However, news leaked on Wednesday that it would be seven-time World Champion and honorary Brazilian citizen Hamilton who would be behind the wheel of the iconic McLaren.
The car is widely regarded as one of McLaren’s best, winning the 1990 Brazilian GP in the hands of Senna in front of his legions of home fans, with both championships following.
Speaking in the FIA Press Conference on Thursday, Hamilton spoke of his excitement at taking the track where Senna was so revered, believing it would be an “emotional” commemoration.
“Well, I mean, every time we come here is an opportunity to do that,” he remarked.
“And I think so many of the drivers also do that. But I never in a million years thought I’d ever get to drive Senna’s car here.
“I remember, someone contacted me, my manager told me about it, and I jumped at the opportunity.
“Back in the day, when I was at McLaren, I did get the chance to drive the MP4/4 around Silverstone, which was incredible.
“But just the thought of driving that car around here.
“I remember the races where he was, when he finally won here and held the flag and yeah, it will definitely be quite an emotional experience and I hope people are here to see it.”
A special tribute for a special car and driver
Revealing he had a special helmet made for the occasion, he also reminisced about driving Senna’s McLaren MP4/4 when racing for McLaren early in his career.
“I had a helmet made, his helmet, made for me, but I don’t know if we’re using that one tomorrow, but yeah, I think the initial hope was for it to be a surprise, ” he said.
“So I had a whole white suit and his helmet and I’d go out and drive the lap and it would just look like it was him out there. But somehow it got out there. It’s impossible to keep things quiet.”
Hamilton lit up when asked about driving a machine with a manual gearbox using the “heel and toe” method of applying both the brake and accelerator pedals while downshifting.
“I’m always heel and toeing. So it should be…! No, it used to be really good when I was younger, and when I did the MP4/4, I was able to do it back then. It’s something I miss. I wish we had that in Formula 1. I mean, the two-pedal thing is just not exciting, and they need to bring back the H-Box. It was awesome,” he remarked with a smile.
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