Lewis Hamilton ‘jumped at the opportunity’ to drive Ayrton Senna’s McLaren

By Philip Duncan, PA F1 Correspondent, Sao Paulo

Lewis Hamilton said he is braced for an emotional evening when he drives his idol Ayrton Senna’s world-championship winning McLaren at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Hamilton will complete a demonstration run in the red-and-white McLaren that carried Senna to the second of his three titles in 1990 in Interlagos on Saturday.

It is 30 years since Senna was killed at the San Marino Grand Prix.

“I never in a million years thought I’d ever get to drive Senna’s car here,” said seven-time world champion Hamilton. “When my manager told me about it, I jumped at the opportunity.

“Just the thought of driving that car around here, I remember the races when he finally won here, and held the flag. It will definitely be quite an emotional experience and I hope people are here to see it.

“The initial hope was for it to be a surprise. I would have an all-white suit and his helmet and go out and drive the lap, and it would just look like it was him out there, but somehow the news got out. It’s impossible to keep things quiet.”

Hamilton was made an honorary citizen of Brazil in 2022.

The 39-year-old claimed his first title here in 2008 and drove the race of his life in 2021 to fight back through the field and beat Max Verstappen to win in Interlagos for a third time.

He heads into this weekend’s race – the first of four concluding rounds with Mercedes ahead of his move to Ferrari – sixth in the standings.