It’s been 25 years since JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya defied the odds to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright in the Ueno Clinic-sponsored McLaren F1 GTR. On their maiden outing at La Sarthe, F1s finished first, third, fourth, fifth and 13th overall – an extraordinary feat for a road-born GT car and not a purpose-built prototype. 

Known by the dedicated legion of F1 enthusiasts around the world by their liveries or title sponsors, each of those five cars which finished Le Mans have now been honoured by McLaren in its new Senna GTR LM. While upgrades to the LM include a 20HP hike in power to a colossal 845HP, a bespoke steering wheel with gold paddles and buttons, and five-spoke OZ Racing wheels similar to the shoes worn by the F1 GTRs, it’s the spectacular liveries that impress the most. 

Each car is ‘twinned’ with one of the 1995 Le Mans finishers and boasts a tribute paintjob that took McLaren Special Operations over 800 hours to finish by hand. While the Ueno Clinic, Harrods, Gulf, Jacadi and César liveries are not like-for-like copies, they’ve been subtly reimagined to playfully pay tribute to the momentous achievement at Le Mans 25 years ago. We think each Senna GTR LM is an absolute triumph and a worthy tribute to the cars which sealed the McLaren F1’s place in Le Mans lore.  

Photos: McLaren Automotive