Ayrton Senna's last F1 title-winning McLaren up for sale

It was the car which sealed Ayrton Senna’s legend – and has a unique place in F1 history.

Now you could own, and race, the McLaren in which the Brazilian finally won his home race in 1991, as long as you’ve got (at least) £9m floating around.

RM Sotheby’s is selling MP4/6/1 at its Sealed – Forever, Senna auction on December 11, with an asking price of $12m-$15m (£9.15m-£11.4m). It has been fully restored and is in running condition.

Senna clinched an emotional win at Interlagos in this very chassis, powered by the screaming Honda engine which became the only V12 to win an F1 title.

Described by RM Sotheby’s as a “masterpiece of engineering”, the car’s design was led by Neil Oatley.

Whereas the rival Williams-Renault team had a V10 engine, Honda opted for the more-weight-equals-more-power option with its 720bhp, 3.5-litre V12.

It would take eight wins in 1991 – seven for Senna and one for team-mate Gerhard Berger – as McLaren clinched both drivers’ and constructors’ titles, but only just.

Though new at the time in its engine philosophy, the car represents an end of an era for McLaren, as throughout the season it became clear that Williams and its hard-charging Nigel Mansell was the coming force in F1.

The Woking squad just about hung on, relying on the four consecutive wins Senna had taken at the season start while Williams sorted out its reliability issues.

“We almost had to start again, because of the bigger engine V12 and the increased fuel capacity,” McLaren designer Matthew Jeffreys told Motor Sport last year.

“The engine’s heavier, it’s thirstier so it needs more fuel, potentially the car’s going to get longer. Though we seemed a lot more worried about wheelbase length in those days than perhaps we needed to be, when you look at the length of F1 cars now!”