Picture Credit: Twitter
Italian fashion designer Matteo Macchiavelli recently revealed his tribute to Brazilian F1 champion Aryton Senna ahead of the Imola Grand Prix. Macchiavelli showcased the ‘Senna Now’ art car project where he alongside French street artist Jisbar has repainted a McLaren F1 car with inspirations from Senna’s career.
Macchiavelli worked on one side of the car where he took inspiration from three different iconic liveries from Senna’s F1 career which includes, the black-and-gold of Lotus, the Rothmans Williams and Marlboro McLaren, while Jisbar took snippets from the life and career of the three-time champion. The car was donated by Italian collector Gianluca Tramonti and will be displayed at the Ayrton Senna museum in Imola.
While talking about the project, Matteo said, “I spent my childhood following the races and the ‘magic’ of my hero. I was inspired by his lifestyle and his teachings, which are still with me now that I’m older.”
Check out the pictures of the car:
“The charisma of Ayrton Senna, his personality, all the challenges he faced, and his humanity have given so much inspiration to me and to a lot of people. I started to imagine how to create something that could centralize and make emerge some of the aspects of the special message that he was able to transmit, challenge, creativity, and humanity,” Macchiavelli further added.
The ‘Senna Now’ car will also be displayed at the Miami and Monaco F1 races, as well as be a showpiece at art events in Venice and Miami later in the year. The car will then be auctioned with some of the proceeds going towards the Ayrton Senna Foundation. Jisbar has also revealed that he will be creating a special Senna Now NFT collection that will be minted in three stages over the Imola, Miami and Monaco F1 weekends.
"My greatest inspiration," Hamilton
In November 2021, seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton had paid tribute to the late Brazilian legend and called him his greatest inspiration. Hamilton’s tweet said, “My greatest inspiration. It was the way he raced, his passion for life and for the sport. But more than anything it was the way he faced alone a system that wasn’t always kind to him. May Ayrton Senna’s legacy live on forever, especially vibrant this weekend.”