- To celebrate their F1 partnership, Lego built a car replicating each team on the grid.
- Each Lego replica featured 400,000 bricks, with over 22,000 hours spent making them.
- The 10 life-sized Lego F1 cars will go on a world tour, with more race weekend appearances.
We’re not quite sure what the Lego engineers expected when they gave the F1 grid 10 full-sized replicas to drive around on the Miami GP parade lap. With over 22,000 hours spent building the blocky homages, perhaps they hoped that each car, consisting of some 400,000 Lego bricks (yes, that’s 4 million bricks total on the grid), would have been treated with a bit of respect.
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Read: Mattel’s Brick Shop Wants To Beat Lego At Its Own Game
However, perhaps predictably, chaos ensued, with equal parts of terrible driving and abject hilarity bringing a much-needed injection of comedy to what is usually a fairly dull parade where drivers are carted around on the back of a truck, listlessly waving to the crowds.
Bricktastic Feats Of Design
Photos Lego
The driver’s antics may have stolen the spotlight somewhat, but the cars themselves were nothing short of incredible. The stunt was in celebration of Formula 1 and Lego’s multi-year partnership. It’s not the first time we’ve witnessed a Lego car drive around a track, though, as just last year, McLaren’s Lando Norris took a replica P1 for a lap of Silverstone, and in 2022 the recreated a McLaren F1 car.
But while a singular replica was impressive in itself, it pales compared to seeing all 10 teams represented on a mini-grid. Far from the lightweight philosophies of motorsport, each Lego replica weighed a hefty 1,500 kg (3,306 lbs). They were also left wanting in the speed department, with the cars limited to 12 mph (20 km/h).
But despite their heft and tortoise-like velocities, these remarkably detailed replicas captured many details of their real-life counterparts, including real Pirelli tires and each team’s sponsor logos. The cars themselves were two-seaters, allowing both teammates to participate in the parade.
Missing Pieces
The Parade soon devolved into what could possibly have been the slowest race ever to take place on an F1 circuit. All the drivers seemed keen to test out the crashworthiness of the cars, too, with Max Verstappen playfully nudging the McLaren in the pits before an all-out war between teams erupted on track. Highlights included George Russell and Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes wedging the Williams into the wall, while Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc burst out in laughter.
It’s not clear just how many Lego pieces were lost in the parade, but they’ll need to be recovered as the cars are set to embark on a global tour, with more appearances at F1 venues on the cards.