The Ayrton Senna x TAG Heuer Appreciation Thread

Ayrton was given his 1990 McLaren MP4/5B by Ron Dennis for winning a bet if he won at Monza that year, which he did. That car is now on display at the Ayrton Senna Institute's HQ.

The reason I'd like to see the Senna Family/Institute/Foundation own his '91 Brazilian GP race winning car is because it's so special to Brazil. I'm sure they would share it with the people of Brazil and Senna's fans around the world. And yes, the profits from such exhibits would likely go to the Foundation's charities.

As it's race-day for the 2025 Brazilian GP, I thought I'd share my findings on the watch Senna wore during his first Brazilian GP win of 1991.

This was the race Ayrton wanted to win more than any other. But I am not 100% sure of the watch he wore during the GP. I know it was one of his S/EL ana-digi models, either his grey dial S25.206M or his cream dial S25.706C.

The problem is no watch is visible on any of the victory podium shots of Senna.
It doesn't even look like he's wearing a watch under his sleeve on the podium. Senna suffered from muscle cramps and needed to be tended to by Dr. Sid Watkins, having stopped during his victory parade lap. My theory is his watch might've been removed during this time, prior to the podium.

There are other pictures showing him wearing a watch that GP weekend. In the shot below, the watch shape can be seen under his sleeve. So, I believe he wore it while racing.

These two shots, also taken during the '91 Brazilian GP weekend, confirm he wore a S/EL ana-digi model.

Based on the shot above, it seems Senna was wearing his grey dial S/EL ana-digi S25.206M. Which I had assumed to be his race watch.

However, TAG Heuer recently posted a promotional video about the '91 Brazilian GP, the entire video can be viewed here. This video implies he was wearing his cream dial S25.706C, as shown in this screen capture.

TAG's video conflicts with the photo showing the grey dial. But it's unclear if this portion of the video is truly from the '91 Brazilian GP or a promotional edit to showcase Senna's most famous watch. The voiceover seems to be a reenactment; it's certainly not Murray Walker.

Hence, my gut tells me that TAG may have taken some creative liberties in showing his cream dial S25.706C. While I'm not 100% certain, I lean towards the photo showing Senna wearing his grey dial S25.206M.

Interview with Bianca Senna. Ayrton's niece talks about all things Senna, including the relationship with TAG Heuer.
(Fact check: She mentions that the Link (S/el) bracelet was designed with Ayrton. Which isn't true, since the S/EL was launched in '87, prior to Senna joining TAG-McLaren in '88.)

I used this photo in my OnTheDash article. Because it's perhaps the only shot where we can clearly see he's wearing the very first execution of the grey dial S/EL ana-digi with only "200 METERS" (no professional) on the dial.

Miss Grand Brazil 2025 pays tribute to Ayrton Senna. Cool costume, watch until the end to see the helmet transform into Senna.

Another video that shows more close ups on the costume, including the change to Ayrton's face, and a spinning Brazilian propeller flag on the back. 😄👍

That's kinda weird.

Yeah, the part where Ayrton's face appears is kind of eerie. But I think this is the coolest beauty pageant costume ever!!! 😎😎😎

Can't argue with that. Almost looks like AI though..