Mercedes swap black for purple at Sao Paulo GP in tribute to Senna's golden era

Mercedes will line up at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in purple race suits this weekend, with world champion Kimi Antonelli and George Russell ditching their usual black and turquoise for a design that pays homage to the golden age of Brazilian Formula 1.

The suits were unveiled on Tuesday at Nubank Parque — the home stadium of football club Palmeiras — as part of the team’s ongoing partnership with Brazilian digital bank Nubank. Both drivers will wear the livery across every session at Interlagos.

The design draws directly from the suits worn by drivers during the 1980s and 1990s, the era in which Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna claimed their world championships. The campaign carries the slogan “Inspired by the Golden Era, Built for the New Era”, and the two shades of purple are taken from Nubank’s own branding: a dark base from its premium Ultravioleta card and a lighter tone representing its broadest customer base.

The reveal was accompanied by a short film featuring both drivers and narrated by Gabriel Leone, the actor who portrayed Senna in Netflix’s biographical series about the three-time champion. The soundtrack is the Tema da Vitoria — the music TV Globo traditionally played when Brazilian drivers won in Formula 1, a piece of audio inseparable from Senna’s legacy.

“Inspired by the past. Built for the New. Welcome, to the Nu Era,” Antonelli wrote on Instagram alongside the announcement.

This is the second time Mercedes has gone purple in 2026. At the Miami Grand Prix in May, the team wore three different purple suits across the three days of the weekend, each carrying coordinates linked to Nubank’s global expansion. Antonelli won that race.

Mercedes marketing operations chief Victoria Johnson said the response in Miami encouraged the team to push the concept further in Sao Paulo. “The purple race suits are an excellent expression of that ambition, uniting Nu’s unmistakable identity with our own while celebrating the incredible passion Brazil has for Formula 1,” she said.

Nubank co-founder Cristina Junqueira described the race weekend as particularly meaningful for the bank. “The Sao Paulo Grand Prix is a special round for Brazilians, for Nubank, because it takes place in the city where it was founded, and for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team drivers,” she said.