A close-up of Ayrton Senna with his helmet onJackson LambrosMon, December 1, 2025 at 8:05 PM UTC·5 min readAsk any Formula 1 fan or driver who's on their Mount Rushmore, and Ayrton Senna's face is probably there. With 41 Grand Prix wins and three championships to his name, the Brazilian showed brilliance in all aspects of his career. Charismatic off the track and blisteringly fast on it, it's no wonder Netflix has retold the legend of Senna.
However, in the many renditions of Senna's story through film and television, there's nearly always a chapter overlooked. At the end of the 1992 season, both McLaren Racing and Senna had plateaued in performance after Senna's back-to-back titles in '90 and '91. Even with three wins to Senna's name, he was no match for Nigel Mansell and Williams Racing's tech-packed rocket ship.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMoreover, the team was on the verge of losing its strongest asset: Honda. After years of dominance with McLaren, the Japanese brand had achieved all it had hoped for in Formula 1. After Senna drove Honda to four consecutive constructors' titles and assisted in developing the NSX, the brand parted ways with him and McLaren at the end of 1992. With his contract up, Senna was left questioning if he should stay with the team he called home for the past five years.
But everything changed late in 1992, when Senna received a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: an IndyCar test with the legendary Team Penske in Phoenix. In what would be Senna's only time behind the wheel of an American open-wheeler, his handful of laps in the Arizona sun would make waves in the motorsports world, help secure his spot in F1 for 1993, and become a major "what if" in a legendary career cut tragically short.
Read more: Why Formula One Engines Went From V12s To V6s
The Marlboro connection
Rick Mears at Laguna Seca in 1991, driving a Penske chassis similiar to Senna's during the test - Stuart Seeger/Wikimedia CommonsThe test was the brainchild of Marlboro Racing's John Hogan, who proposed the idea to Roger Penske. It would be a phenomenal look for Marlboro, since the tobacco brand had its logos on both Penske's and McLaren's cars. Plus, with a three-day test already scheduled for the team at Firebird Raceway, and with Senna already close to Penske driver and fellow Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, it would be a perfect sell.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut for Senna, not only was it a chance to sample IndyCar, it was a means of sending a message straight to McLaren CEO Ron Dennis. Seeing its star driver test with IndyCar's top team in a contract year would no doubt put pressure on the team to lure Senna back with a competitive car in '93, and also put pressure on the entire F1 paddock, as this generational talent had a chance to walk away.
And so, on the morning of December 20, Senna climbed into the cockpit of the Penske PC-21 IndyCar. The Penske chassis and Chevrolet power plant were far heavier and slower than Senna's Formula 1 counterpart, yet unsurprisingly, Senna learned quickly. With some minor adjustments to the setup after the opening stint, Senna was able to put in laps three-tenths of a second quicker than the benchmark times laid down earlier in the day by Fittipaldi.
Even more impressive to four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears was how enthralled Senna was behind the wheel. "He said, 'In the Formula 1 Cars, we're starting to race computers rather than drivers,'" Mears recalled in the documentary "Senna: The Test" (per indycar.com). "He said, 'This is great, I get to drive again.'"
From hype to hypotheticals
Ayrton Senna behind the wheel of the Williams FW16 in 1994 - Pascal Rondeau/Getty ImagesDespite Senna's pace and excitement, both parties ultimately knew the test would lead to nothing. With Paul Tracy and Emerson Fittipaldi on lock, Roger Penske had no interest in bringing another driver in for the 1993 season. And Senna wasn't looking at this test as a trial run for '93, but to rattle the cages of the folks back in Europe.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt worked. Over at McLaren, Dennis not only found an engine partner in Ford Cosworth, but also inked Senna to a contract for the following season, earning a whopping $1 million per race. In his final year in red and white, Senna would win five more races with Mclaren, before finally parting with the team for Williams in 1994.
That same year, however, Senna's former adversary, Nigel Mansell, was making waves with a move of his own to IndyCar. Driving for Newman/Haas Racing, "Manselmania" ended with the Brit winning the 1993 championship, and a third-place finish at the Indy 500. With how quickly Senna was able to pick up IndyCar's more physical style of racing, and with just how competitive Penske was in the height of its collaboration with Ilmor Engineering, many were left wondering: What if Senna actually had pulled the trigger on IndyCar? How would he have fared on the ovals?
For reasons we all know too well, it was a question he never got the chance to answer. At the Grand Prix of San Marino in 1994, Senna lost his life leading the field — a tragic end to one of racing's most beloved drivers. And the Phoenix test remains in fans' memories as a true showing of Senna's talent, and what life after F1 might have been for one of the all-time greats.
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