Fernando Alonso doesn’t stop even during vacation: he drives Zak Brown’s 1990 Senna McLaren. Fernando Alonso tested the 1990 championship-winning MP4/5B on track .

Fernando Alonso’s holidays
As we know, the winter period is the most challenging time of year for Fernando Alonso. For the two-time F1 champion, it’s harder to stop, breathe, and spend time on the couch at home than to travel the world, driving some of the fastest cars on the planet for over twenty years. However, it’s safe to bet that the break between the 2024 and 2025 World Championships will be remembered by Fernando with a bit more satisfaction: Alonso had the chance to drive one of the McLarens with which Ayrton Senna built his legend.

Fernando Alonso behind the wheel of Senna’s McLaren
The opportunity arose thanks to the long-standing friendship between the Aston Martin driver and Zak Brown, who was once his boss at McLaren. The American entrepreneur, who is celebrating his first Constructors’ Championship title, has always been an enthusiastic collector and amateur driver. He keeps several priceless motorsport gems in his garage. So, what better time than the winter break to organize a track day with his friend Alonso to make some vintage engines roar?

The special test organized by Brown
At Zak Brown’s invitation, Fernando Alonso had the opportunity to wear one of the original racing suits of his childhood idol, Ayrton Senna, and drive the McLaren MP4/5B with which Magic won the Drivers’ title in 1990. The car is now one of the prized pieces in Brown’s private collection. The day also involved Fernando’s father, José Luis Alonso, to whom the Spanish driver gave a special thanks for guiding him toward motorsport: “It’s impossible to repay everything my parents have given and taught me. But today was a great day watching my father drive a Formula 1 car.”

Brown also participated in the test. The CEO of the Woking team, who has driven the DeKon Monza that won the 1976 Australian Touring Car Championship, the TWR Jaguar XJR-10 which won five times in the 1989 IMSA Championship, and the more recent Holden Commodore with which the Walkinshaw team (then owned by Brown) triumphed in the 2011 Bathurst 1000 km.