Ayrton Senna won three Formula 1 world championship crowns, and Crash.net takes a look at the three iconic cars that powered him to success. 

Senna maintains a constant presence in the greatest of all time debate, alongside the likes of Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, and Juan Manuel Fangio.

But it is fair to say of most champions, that there is a strong chance that they would not have achieved the level of success they enjoyed, without the machinery that took them to the sport's summit. With this in mind, here are the three cars that took Senna to his world titles.

1988 - McLaren MP4/4

We start with perhaps the most famous cars of all, which until 2023 stood as the most successful F1 car of all time, in terms of the percentage of race wins it secured across a single season. At the hands of Senna and team-mate Alain Prost, the MP4/4 won 15 races from 16, with a 100% success rate missed only after Senna was hit and spun from the lead while lapping a backmarker at the Italian Grand Prix. In 2023, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez's combined 21 wins from 22, 19 of which were taken by the Dutchman, resulted in a 95.5% hit rate, marginally better than the 93.75% rate of the MP4/4.

Not only was the MP4/4 seemingly unbeatable in race trim, but it was similarly dominant in qualifying, with 15 pole positions from 16.

On 10 occasions, Senna and Prost finished 1-2, and the championship was secured in Japan, when the Brazilian recovered from a poor start to pass his ailing team-mate to secure a maiden crown with a round to spare.

1990 - McLaren MP4/5B

After missing out on the 1989 title in controversial circumstances, 1990 saw Senna reclaim his crown in the most dramatic of fashions, with the decisive incident still one of the most talked about moments in F1 history. But before that fateful day at Suzuka, Senna had amassed a nine-point lead over Prost, who was now driving for Ferrari, and knew that if neither driver finished, he would be champion. Following a dispute with FISA Jean Marie Balestre over which side of the grid pole position should be located, Senna held his line on the inside into Turn 1, and made contact with Prost, sealing the title again with a round to spare.

The MP4/5B was the class of the field in 1990. Far from enjoying the dominance of the MP4/4, the 1990 McLaren only saw victory with the Brazilian, although team-mate Gerhard Berger was able to score seven podiums, four of which came in the opening six rounds. 

Ferrari provided a serious threat throughout the campaign, with Prost taking the 641 to consecutive wins in Mexico, France, and Great Britian, snatching the lead from Senna, before this advantage was ultimately overturned. 

1991 - McLaren MP4/6

Senna's final title came in the penultimate year of McLaren's partnership with Honda. It is also perhaps his most underrated success, with the sheer reliability of the MP4/6 the most crucial factor behind the crown. Across the entire campaign, Senna failed to be registered as a classified finisher only one, compared to chief rival Nigel Mansell's five. 

Four straight wins to begin the season put Senna immediately into a strong position, but it would be a further six races before he would return to the top step in Hungary.

Matching the reliability of his car, was Senna's ability to consistently drag the maximum performance from the MP4/6, as he failed to feature on the podium just three times in 16 races, limiting Mansell's gains even as the Williams became the dominant car. 

The title was once again clinched at Suzuka, with team orders playing a factor, as Berger allowed Senna past to protect from a Mansell charge through the order. However, with no such outcome, Senna held to the agreement and waved his Austrian team-mate back past in the closing stages.