The car has never been offered publicly before. For three decades it sat in the Senna family’s care, untouched apart from the fitment of Senna’s personal seat. In 2024 a new owner acquired it through RM Sotheby’s Private Sales, and the chassis now headlines the auction house’s Now & Contemporary Evening sale in New York.

RM Sotheby’s describes the car in its own lot listing.

“Chassis FW16B-01 remained completely untouched for the following 30 years, with a notable exception being the addition of Senna’s personal seat, and is today presented in totally preserved, unrestored condition.”

One of only two surviving FW16s Senna drove

Only two of the FW16 chassis Ayrton Senna is known to have driven still exist, and FW16B-01 is one of them. Senna did not race it at a grand prix: his seat time came in the Brazilian Grand Prix warm-up at Interlagos and in testing at Jerez the following month, where he and Damon Hill covered a combined 842 kilometres.

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After Senna was killed at Imola in May 1994 in a different chassis, FW16-02, the car continued its racing life in other hands. David Coulthard ran it to fifth place at the Canadian and British Grands Prix, Nigel Mansell took the wheel at the French Grand Prix, and Damon Hill drove it in testing and as his T-car.

The Williams-Senna contract clause

The reason the car sits with the Senna family at all comes down to a contract clause. Senna’s 1994 deal with Williams entitled him to one of the team’s chassis if they won the Constructors’ Championship that year. Williams took the title, and after Senna’s death the team honoured the agreement, selecting FW16B-01 and gifting it to his family.

The chassis began the season as FW16-01. Williams upgraded it to FW16B specification following the British Grand Prix in July 1994, and the car saw out the final three races of the season as the team sealed the constructors’ crown.

Under the hammer at RM Sotheby’s New York sale

The $4m-$6m estimate works out to around R66m-R100m at the auction house’s own conversion. Bidding opens as part of RM Sotheby’s Now & Contemporary Evening Auction in New York on 16 November 2026.

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