Senna-driven 1994 Williams FW16 set for New York auction with £4.45m top estimate

The Williams FW16 chassis Ayrton Senna drove in 1994 is due to be auctioned by RM Sotheby's in New York next month, with an estimate of £2.95 million to £4.45 million. It is one of only two surviving FW16s he drove.

Senna drove chassis 01 in pre-season testing and the morning warm-up before the 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix, but switched to another chassis for the race. The FW16 he drove at the San Marino Grand Prix, where he was killed during the season's third race, was chassis 02; it was later returned to Williams and is believed to have been destroyed.

After Senna's death, Williams continued to use chassis 01. Damon Hill had it as a spare in Monaco; David Coulthard drove it at the Spanish Grand Prix. Nigel Mansell drove it at the French Grand Prix, and Coulthard again at the British Grand Prix. The car later served as a test machine or spare, including for Hill in Japan and at the title-deciding Australian Grand Prix.

Williams gave chassis 01 to the Senna family at the end of 1994 under a clause in Senna's contract: he was to receive an FW16 if the team won the constructors' championship. Williams secured the title ahead of Benetton.