Corinthians release kit in tribute to Brazilian F1 legend Ayrton Senna

He may have died in 1994, but Ayrton Senna remains one of Brazil's most beloved sporting heroes - now a major football club have honoured him with a new kit.

Formula One legend Senna won the first of his three world titles in 1988, 30 years ago. He went on to triumph in 1990 and 1991 and is still regarded as one of the sport's greatest ever racers.

Now, major Brazilian club Corinthians have marked the anniversary of Senna's first great achievement with a special black and gold strip.

The colours - a departure from the usual black and white donned by Corinthians - represent the livery of the Lotus car Senna drove when he picked up his first F1 victory in 1985, at the Portugal GP.

In 1988, Senna - a lifelong Corinthians fan - clinched his first F1 drivers' title at the Japanese Grand Prix, and with the 2018 race coming up at Suzuka this weekend, Corinthians have unveiled the honourary kit.

It features 41 golden lines, one for every race won by Senna. His signature replaces the sponsor's logo on the front, while inside the collar is the phrase 'Senna sempre', meaning 'Senna always' in Portuguese.

While the kit is in the colours of Lotus, it was in the red and white of McLaren that Senna won all three of his drivers' titles.

However, with one of Corinthians' biggest rivals, Sao Paulo, playing in red and white home strips, the black and gold look has been selected.

The kits will be worn in their next Serie A fixture, at home to Flamengo on Saturday. Corinthians are currently ninth in the Brazilian top tier.

Senna was killed in the third race of the 1994 season, driving for new team Williams, after crashing at the San Marino GP at Imola. He was 34.