Finally… The last Elf thrown over The LEGO Group’s perimeter fence returned today. We were beginning to think it’d been eaten by the guard dogs. Anyhow, now that it’s found its way back to The Lego Car Blog Towers we can complete our preview of the 2013 LEGO Technic lineup, with this, the 42000 F1 Racer.

We’ve actually previewed this set already, because someone (probably now an ex-LEGO employee) put one up for sale on eBay a few months ago. However, we thought it was still worth bringing you some high quality pictures.

LEGO’s 42000 marks a return to F1 style cars, although due to licensing regulations it may not actually be called an ‘F1’ car. In comparison to their previous officially licensed efforts from Ferrari and Williams, we’re actually a little disappointed by this set, but that’s probably a little unjust as 42000 will almost certainly be cheaper than its predecessors.

42000 will sit at the top of the early-2013 LEGO Technic range, and whilst it has no Power Functions or Pneumatics, it does feature some good old-fashioned mechanics, including; a working V8 engine, suspension and steering, and one of those slightly annoying ‘gearbox-that’s-not-actually-a-gearbox’ things to control a variety of functions. We predict these will be an opening engine cover (why not just have it on a hinge and give us a real gearbox LEGO?), and possibly a Drag Reduction System (DRS) on the rear wing, as employed by the 2012 Formula 1 cars.

Expect 42000 to be near the top of the tree price-wise when it’s released in early 2013. However, we think it’s not so far up LEGO’s pricing structure that it’s eliminated the need for a new flagship… You heard it here first!