Sanrivatti first emerged from stealth earlier this year with a bold idea: what if a hypercar was designed around the driver, not the machine?
For years, hypercar development has been driven by the same goals: more power, sharper aerodynamics, and ever more advanced technology. But one element of the driving experience has largely stayed the same: where the driver sits.
Sanrivatti is challenging that assumption. Its answer is The Apex Position, a world-first driving concept that rethinks high-performance car ergonomics and places the driver at the center of the experience.
At the heart of the brand’s philosophy is a head-forward driving position designed to create a completely different relationship between human and machine. The idea blends elements of superbike and hypercar thinking, aiming to improve visibility, track placement, immersion, and engagement behind the wheel.
The concept grew out of a question founder and CEO Santiago Sánchez Rivero had been exploring for years: why does the connection between rider and machine feel so immediate on a high-performance motorcycle, while even the most capable performance cars can feel more distant?
“On a high-performance motorcycle, rider and machine move as one,” Santiago says. “The connection is immediate, physical and instinctive. Every movement of the body directly influences the experience; every change in balance, posture and perception becomes part of the interaction.
“By contrast, even the world’s most capable performance cars often separate driver and machine through layers of architecture, packaging, systems technologies and convention.”
For Sanrivatti, body alignment, visibility, ergonomics and physical awareness are not afterthoughts. They are central to how the car is being developed. That shift in mindset is designed to bring the driver into a much more integrated relationship with the vehicle.
Unlike a conventional hypercar, where the driver typically sits behind the front axle in a reclined cockpit, Sanrivatti’s architecture places the driver in a more central, forward-focused position. The layout is paired with immersive ergonomics, a wider field of view, and controls shaped around natural human movement.
The company says proprietary technologies now under development will help the driver move more naturally with the vehicle, creating a stronger sense of awareness, balance and connection during acceleration, braking and cornering. Instead of separating the driver from the car’s movements, Apex Position is intended to make the driver an active part of the experience.
“For decades, the automotive industry has relentlessly evolved the driving machine yet rarely questioned the position of the human being inside it,” Santiago says. “I became fascinated by the possibility that a different driving position could fundamentally change how a vehicle is experienced. So Sanrivatti was founded to explore that very possibility.
“For me, the question was never how to create more power or more speed. The question was how to create a deeper connection between driver and machine. Sanrivatti was founded with the belief that the human body should play a much greater role in shaping the driving experience. Everything we are developing today stems from that philosophy.”
To help turn that vision into reality, Sanrivatti has begun assembling a global team with experience across engineering, vehicle development and commercial strategy.
Among the latest additions is Paul Arkesden, who joins as Executive Director of Technology Partnerships. He brings more than three decades of experience across performance and luxury automotive brands including Singer Vehicle Design, McLaren Automotive and McLaren Special Operations. His previous roles include Vice President of Engineering at Singer, Head of Engineering at McLaren Special Operations and Project Leader for the McLaren P1 program.
“What attracted me to Sanrivatti was the originality of the thinking behind it,” Paul says. “The automotive industry has become incredibly effective at refining established ideas, however, opportunities to explore genuinely new perspectives are much rarer.
“The philosophy Santiago has envisaged and the solution being created places the human being at the very centre of the driving experience. That creates fascinating opportunities from both an engineering and experiential perspective, and it is one of the reasons I became involved.”
The wider programme is also supported by Commercial Strategic Advisor Geoff Dowding, whose experience spans leadership roles at Lotus, Bentley, Harley-Davidson and Al Habtoor Motors.
“Throughout my career, I have seen many ambitious automotive projects, but what stands out about Sanrivatti is the clarity of the vision behind it,” Geoff says. “The team is not chasing trends or attempting to replicate what already exists. It is pursuing a genuinely differentiated idea, and that creates a compelling foundation for the future.”
