A special F1 tribute to Senna at Imola
This week, a colorful and original F1 car is being presented in Imola. It has been decorated as a tribute to Ayrton Senna, who died on this circuit 28 years ago. It will be auctioned.
Coming back to Imola always brings back special memories. This circuit was the stage for the most tragic Grand Prix, where Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna lost their lives in 1994.
To pay tribute to “Magic Senna,” a French artist collaborated with Matteo Macchiavelli and completely repainted last year’s McLaren MCL35M: his name is Jisbar, Jean-Baptiste Launay in his real name. The car was loaned to him by the Italian collector Gianluca Tramonti.
He is primarily working on one side of the car. The artist has been greatly inspired by all the passion he had for Alain Prost’s greatest rival: « I spent my entire childhood watching the races,” recalls the 32-year-old artist. « My inspiration came from his lifestyle and all the teachings he provided, which I still carry within me today.”
The spectators will be able to admire a small aesthetic gem at the Ayrton Senna Museum in Imola. On the left side, the car is adorned with a mural: it features numerous photos of the Brazilian triple world champion, in a style reminiscent of the favelas of Sao Paulo, where he grew up.
The right side will be decorated with the colors of three teams: Lotus-Renault at the back, with whom Senna won his first victory (Estoril 1985); McLaren at the front (where he won his three championships in 1988, 1990, and 1991); and Williams, his last team, with the FW16 being his final car.
Thanks to Angelo Orsi, I was able to have plenty of pictures of Ayrton’s smiling face Matteo Macchiavelli, the originator of the collage of different liveries. These photos are now part of my family album.
We worked on the union of all the iconic liveries driven by Senna. Jisbar used all his imagination and memories to paint an original artwork recalling Ayrton Senna.
The objective of this project is to donate the funds raised from the auction to the profits of the Ayrton Senna Foundation. The artist also wants to celebrate this artwork by creating NFTs inspired by it, which will also be donated to the foundation.
Jisbar is now famous for his collaborations with Fabio Quartararo for the clothing brand IKKS.
The car will be put up for auction, but we do not have a date to share with you yet.
