![I Wanted F1 Legend Ayrton Senna's Sonic Trophy So Bad, I Made My Own 1](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.timeextension.com/318f4e24cac3f/i-wanted-f1-legend-ayrton-sennas-sonic-trophy-so-bad-i-made-my-own-1.900x.jpg)
On April 11th 1993, the Formula One European Grand Prix was held at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. This event is mainly remembered for two reasons: the incredible performance of the late Brazilian F1 legend Ayrton Senna and the event being heavily sponsored by Sega. You can read more about Senna’s epic performance and how Sega came to sponsor the event here.
One of the most iconic photos from the day is that of race winner Ayrton Senna lifting a trophy of Sonic the Hedgehog above his head.
While this wasn’t the official winner’s trophy (that would be presented later), it was an amazing moment for Sega fans; back in the early nineties, video games weren’t seen as mainstream, so seeing a video game mascot feature so prominently and in front of a global audience felt special.
The fact it was Senna lifting the trophy made it extra special due to his connection with Sega – the Brazilian had worked with the Japanese company one year earlier, and endorsed their Mega Drive / Genesis title, Super Monaco GP II.
The Sonic F1 trophy was fondly remembered by fans, but it would be a number of years before it would be seen again – 25 years to be exact – when McLaren replied to a post on X (formerly Twitter) in 2018, sharing a photo of the trophy sat on a shelf.
Many fans questioned why it wasn’t in a trophy cabinet, and McLaren obviously took note, as it shared another post in 2020 stating, “The trophy returns to MTC. You asked, we listened! 🧡”. (MTC being the McLaren Technology Centre, their headquarters in Basingstoke, England).
A few years later, I found someone had made a 3D-printed model of the Sonic F1 trophy and made the file available via the website Sketchfab. This is where my project of owning a Sonic the Hedgehog F1 trophy began; I paid the license fee (£4/$4.80), downloaded the file and reached out to my friend, Andrew from The Back Office Show, to help me with the 3D print.
Andrew was more than happy to help, and a few months later, I had a 3D-printed model in my hands – in blue, quite appropriately!
The next task was finding someone to paint it, and for this, I reached out to Rob at R.A.W. Talent Art – having previously used his services for a custom Mortal Kombat Dreamcast shell, I knew it was in good hands.
Knowing how good Rob’s work is, I was expecting it to look good, but I was still blown away by how good this model looked when I unboxed it.
It may sound like a cliché, but pictures really don’t do it justice – it has a glossy finish, making it smooth to the touch and giving it a nice shine – Rob even went to the trouble of adding felt to the base, making it feel even more authentic as a replica trophy.
As a fan of F1 and Sega, I’m really happy with the way this statue turned out and it’s great to see that even in 2024, McLaren is still posting about this iconic statue.
Comments 6
That’s cool I vaguely remember seeing something about this in a magazine at the time along with the picture of Senna holding the trophy and if I remember correctly there was a cheat but for the first super Monaco gp where if you made the podium you could do a button combo and the the drivers would lift their heads off instead of a trophy
Great story and good looking trophy. Must be great to win a trophy like that.
Stuff like this, among so many other things, is why 3D printing is great. The result is lovely. Might be a good idea to win a race in Super Monaco GP just to make it official!
Speaking of F1 and Video Games, I saw a YouTube video of Lewis Hamilton playing PS1 games. What made me smile was that before he put a game in, he blows the CD. We all did that
Please forgive my forthcoming art critique! But as a former Fine Art major - with a concentration in sculpture and 3D design - this sort of project is my favorite thing to digest and examine ^_^
To start, it would probably be more accurate for the author to say, "I had one made," instead of, "I made my own." But I do appreciate how everyone involved in the project got a shout-out in the article, at least! Sometimes it can be difficult to give proper credit.
The gold paint does indeed look wonderful, but the Sega logo at the base seems like it got the short end of the stick. I can't understand why the "S" has a sort of black highlight line inside the lettering, while the rest of the letters do not. The real trophy appears to have had the Sega logo painted exclusively in blue and white - why would a black line be added? It also appears that the linework in the Sega logo is not consistent, with the "S" having a thinner inner line than the rest of the colors. This could have been a fault in the original 3D model, and I can honestly imagine these inconsistencies would have been a nightmare to paint...
All in all, though, a well-done project, and a very successful end result. The scale appears much smaller than the real thing, but that's OK. Makes me wonder of McLaren, Sega, or the original sculptor would consider selling licensed miniature versions of their own? I mean, who wouldn't love to have one of these??
the way the typeface ligatures the F and 1 in the headline really bothers me. 🧐
no idea what this article is talking about and seems like an oddly small stakes story but I suppose it isn't "for me" as the kids like to say. 👍
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