Ultra-rare Ayrton Senna 1994 F1 Williams set for multi-million pound auction

A 1994 Williams F1 car driven by Ayrton Senna is to be auctioned next month - one of just two surviving FW16s the Brazilian drove.

FW16 chassis 01 was driven by Senna during pre-season testing and during the morning warm-up ahead of the 1994 Brazilian GP before he reverted to a different chassis for the race. 

Senna was killed during the third race of the season, at the San Marino Grand Prix, driving chassis 02, which was later returned to Williams, and is believed to have been destroyed.

Chassis 01 was gifted to the Senna family at the end of 1994 as per a clause in Senna's contract which stated he was to be gifted an example of the FW16 if the team won the constructors' championship title - which it did after beating Benetton. 

After Senna's death, FW16 chassis 01 was used as the spare car for Damon Hill in Monaco, before David Coulthard made his debut in the chassis at the Spanish GP in Barcelona.

The chassis was then used by Nigel Mansell during his comeback at the French GP, and was also driven by Coulthard in the British GP before it became a test machine or was used as the spare car, including for Hill in Japan and the title-deciding Australian GP. 

The machine is to be auctioned next month in New York by RM Sotheby's, with an estimate of £2.950 million GBP to £4.450 million. 

Check out the full listing by clicking the link.