Formula One ace hot laps new toy

BACK in 2013, Formula One driver Lando Norris was four year old and likely a big fan of a certain brand of plastic building block.

McLaren, meantime, was debuting a really important model, the P1 supercar, a headline maker then as much for having a hybrid drivetrain as for being seriously quick, being capable of 350kmh.

Fast forward to today. Lando has a drive with McLaren; the brand, in term has just allowed him to play with a giant Lego toy already assembled.

And no need to squint to make out what it is. The P1 s as easily identifiable now as it was 11 years ago.

Every once in a while, Lego decides to create a showpiece. This is it for 2024; an impressive feat of creative engineering—especially considering that, like its inspiration, this Lego iteration is perfectly capable of cruising along a racetrack.

McLaren Automotive recently partnered with the plastic brickmakers to build this full-scale working adaptation.

The project required 23 specialists from both companies to collaborate more than 8344 hours of development and construction followed by another 2210 hours of production time. The bright yellow variant includes 342,817 Lego Technic elements spread across 393 different types—11 of which were molded specifically for the project itself.

The car still required a steel frame and real tires to actually function, but that’s about it when it comes to non-Lego parts. Even the P1’s engine system is composed of eight electric motor packs, each with 96 Lego Power function motors to imitate the original McLaren’s V8 while offering a nod to the P1’s legacy as the world’s first hybrid supercar.

All told, the car weighes 1220kg, roughly 175kg lighter than the actual racing vehicle.

Once fully assembled, McLaren entrusted the experimental car to Norris. After arriving at the UK’s Silverstone Circuit, He managed to complete an entire lap around the 5.9km track at a top speed of 64kmh. While that’s just a fraction of the speed of its namesake, the Lego Technic P1 garnered a number of notable achievements. It marks the first time a Lego scale has successfully driven around corners, finished an entire race track lap, and been piloted by an official F1 racing driver.