Tag Heuer Pays Tribute to Aryton Senna

Till today, 21 years after his passing, Aryton Senna is still regarded as one of the greatest, if not the greatest racing driver that had ever lived. His god given talent, tenacious bravery, and passionate character made him an idol of the sport to fans, motorsports pundits, and even the general public alike.

His tragic death at the fateful 1994 San Marino Grand Prix shocked the world and caused an uproar in the sport to introduce new safety regulations, a cause to which Senna was dedicated to. Since his death and the raft of safety regulations introduced, there hasn’t been any fatalities in a Formula One event. 

More than two decades on the story of his life and his achievements has made him a Formula One legend, and though Senna raced for four different teams in his Formula One career, he was best remembered for his three World Championship titles he won with McLaren-Honda, most notably of the three was with the McLaren MP4/4 of 1988. Together with then two-time World Champion Alain Prost, the MP4/4 was able to win all but one of the 16 Grand Prix races that year, and gave Senna his first World Championship title.  

In celebration of the 30^th anniversary of Tag Heuer’s partnership with the McLaren Formula One team, the Swiss watch brand held a special event at the ‘Teatre Principal’, the oldest playhouse in Barcelona. There Tag Heuer premiered a painstakingly accurate hologram of Senna in his classic red racing attire and helmet, and the MP4/4. The hologram addressed the audience with a sample of pre-existing audio snippets. The event also saw the launch of Tag Heuer’s new Senna Collection.

Endorsed by the Senna family, the Senna Collection is comprised of four new-special edition timepieces, with the Formula 1 Chronograph Senna Edition and Carrera Calibre 16 Chronograph Senna Edition each featuring two individual versions. Each timepiece from the Senna Collection features a stylised Senna ‘S’ in red lacquer on the dial, case back and bezel. Each of the four timepieces are complete with a tachymeter scale, marking it out as timepieces with a real racing spirit and carries Senna’s performance touch. Making a return with the Senna Collection is the ‘Legend’ bracelet with S-shaped links, the very same style that was worn by Senna, but redesigned and rounded for optimum comfort.

The 43mm-diameter quartz chronograph from the Formula 1 Chronograph range is able to measure to the nearest tenth of a second and comes with a date function. The two versions of the timepiece are defined by the colour theme applied to the dial face, with a choice of an Anthracite grey dial that is accentuated with elegant touches of ‘Legend’ red applied to the dial face, or a black dial wearing a yellow and green colour scheme that references the colours of Senna’s racing helmet and national colours of Brazil.

As for the Carrera Calibre 16 Chronograph timepieces, the 44mm-diameter automatic chronograph is available with an Anthracite grey sunray dial and complemented with the fitment of the ‘Legend’ steel bracelet, or an ultra-light black titanium version with a rubber strap with a dynamic tyre-tread design.