How 'Senna' Nailed the F1 Legend’s Epic TAG Heuer Watch Collection

Thirty years after Ayrton Senna, the legendary three-time Formula 1 champion, tragically lost his life at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, the Brazilian icon is still remembered as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time.

Senna fans will be thrilled that not only did TAG Heuer release a new limited edition Senna timepiece last month, Netflix has also just dropped a six-part mini-series all about him. Called Senna, it focuses on the life story of the driver, played by Brazilian musician and actor Gabriel Leone.

The fast and fearless Senna used to work closely with TAG Heuer as one of the Swiss brand’s official ambassadors and made the now very '80s-coded S/EL his signature daily beater.

For the filming of Senna, someone had to make sure the watches appearing were as true to life as possible. Nicholas Biebuyck, Heritage Director at TAG Heuer, was the perfect man for the job. Biebuyck oversees the brand's archives (which date back to 1860) and museum, and also gets the lucky task of sourcing watches for the big screen, including the likes of Barbie and Ferrari.

“This one was particularly close to my heart as a huge fan of Senna,” says Biebuyck who worked on the project for nearly a year. “It has been a great experience to learn even more about the life of a hero of mine through the watches he wore during his career.”

Which watches are we talking about? “We were fortunate that we had a good stock of the celebrated High-Tech S/EL Chronograph models in both the champagne and anthracite dial variations. As this is the watch most closely linked to Ayrton given that he wore it from 1988 until 1993, it was the one that was most important,” he says. TAG Heuer also had a number of Series 6000 models, “which he is often seen wearing in the 1993 and early 1994 seasons so it was important to include this as well,” adds Biebuyck.

Of course, the life of Senna was taking place in the pre-internet era so it isn’t like present day when Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton are flexing their latest wrist accessories—Biebuyck had to rely on existing footage and photographs, an especially challenging task for other cast members. “There are not so many images taken in the period showing this aspect. In the end we focused on the S/EL collection as it was launched in 1987 and represented the pinnacle of the TAG Heuer collection at the time, certainly fitting for those around Senna,” he says.

The other tricky watch was the vintage piece used as a fictionalized plot point in the show, which helps with the communication of the important connection between Senna, his home country, and his family. “It would be easy to imagine that his was a part of his life when he was traveling all around the world and for me, as someone who idolizes Senna, it helps to communicate clearly that while Senna was extremely competitive on the track, he was someone who was full of love and loyalty to those close to him,” says Biebuyck.

For that particular timepiece, Biebuyck was given a bit of guidance by the Netflix team that it should be a chronograph and gold. “We settled on what is often called a pre-Carrera, reference 409 from around 1955. Made of solid gold and housing a Valjoux 22, its 35mm diameter case size would have been big for the period, certainly something fitting of what Ayrton’s father would have worn,” he says.

Nailing the right timepieces was a mammoth task but capturing Senna’s aura was equally as crucial. Actor Gabriel Leone, also a TAG Heuer ambassador, had to figure that out — something that goes beyond costume changes and time spent in the hair and makeup department’s chair.  “It was another level of immersing myself for almost a year shooting the series and of course, as a Brazilian playing one of our biggest heroes and icons. It was an honor, and a huge responsibility for me,” says Leone over a video call. “I really love to change myself, to change the way I look, for the characters. When you're playing a fictional character you have more freedom to create it. But when you're playing someone as famous as Senna, you have to get as close to him as possible,” he says. “When I was looking at myself in the mirror, I couldn't find him. I knew how hard I would have to work.”

Leone read as much as he could on Senna, and watched hours of footage. “For me, more important than anything else was to find his essence. I started watching him, focusing on his eyes. His eyes were so unique, so truthful and emotional. That's when I started to understand him more,” he adds.

For Leone, the filming highlight was when Senna won at home in Brazil for the first time in 1991, in a race where a gearbox malfunction forced him to race the last seven laps in sixth gear — in the rain. “But he still won the race and he passed out in the end. And you have this remarkable and emotional moment of him struggling to lift the trophy,” says Leone. “I can’t be 100% sure of it, but I think it’s one of the most, if not the most emotional moment of his life, of his career.”

This story originally appeared on British GQ.