Tag Archives: Ayrton Senna

LEGO Icons 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna | Set Preview

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LEGO and McLaren have been hard at work, because the Speed Champions 76919 2023 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car is not the only new McLaren Formula 1 set to arrive in 2024. This is the new LEGO Icons 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna!

Arriving in March of this year, 10330 brings one of Formula 1’s most famous cars to the Icons range; the McLaren-Honda MP4/4, which – in the hands of Aytron Senna and Alain Prost – won an incredible 15 of the 16 races in the 1988 Formula 1 season, and gave Senna his first Driver’s World Championship.

The first LEGO set to wear the Honda badge (which means we might get to see more Honda sets in future), 10330 is constructed from 693 pieces and includes working steering, a detailed (but non-working) replica of the RA168E V6 turbo engine, suspension (we’re guessing rubber blocks rather than springs here…), plus authentic slick tyres and sponsors. Those tyres will be particularly exciting for many Lego fans, who’ve never yet had access to non-treaded rubber.

But what of the 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna set’s ‘& Ayrton Senna’ bit? Well, the late Ayrton Senna’s name is a carefully curated brand in its own right these days, and 10330 duly comes with an inappropriately-sized mini-figure that looks vaguely like him.

However with under 700 pieces yet costing $80/£70, we’d rather have saved a few quid to not have the pointless mini-figure and additional branding associated with it. Still, LEGO no doubt calculated the ‘& Ayrton Senna’ bit resonates with the set’s 18+ target age group, and thus kinda-Senna is here, holding a trophy and looking rather superfluous alongside the racing car in which he drove.

Dubious mini-figure inclusion and high price aside though, the LEGO Icons 10330 McLaren MP4/4 (& Ayrton Senna) set does look rather excellent, and you’ll be able to get your hands on one when they reach stores in March of this year.

Monaco ’88

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‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, the Toyota Corolla, and the Monaco Grand Prix. All simultaneously the greatest examples of their respective genres, and also the most boring.

But Formula 1 in Monaco wasn’t always a procession. Before the cars were the size of school buses, which these days makes overtaking impossible, Monaco could put on quite a show.

Back in 1988, even with the complete dominance of the McLaren-Honda MP4/4, the ’88 Monaco Grand Prix delivered. Twenty-six cars started – two of which were even called ‘Megatron’ (seriously, look it up!) – just ten finished, and Ayrton Senna was the class of the field.

Out-qualifying his team-mate Alain Prost by a staggering 1.4 seconds, Senna led the race by almost a minute… until he didn’t. A momentary lapse of concentration eleven laps from the finish and he hit the wall, whereupon he exited his broken McLaren and walked home.

Prost took the win (his forth and final Monaco GP victory), followed by Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari some twenty seconds back. Which means there’s perhaps some artistic license with the cars’ proximity in alex_bricks‘ stunning 1988 Monaco Grand Prix vignette, but in every other respect this is a spectacularly realistic homage to the Monte Carlo street race.

Recreating the circuit as it was in the late-’80s required Alex to watch old race footage (which is surely some of the most fun research required to build a Lego model), matching his brick-built version of the Mediterranean Principality to the televised imagery from the time.

The result is a replica of the streets of Monaco as they were in 1988 so perfect we can practically hear the noise from the Formula 1 cars bouncing off the walls of the buildings, with Alex displaying his incredible build at the Brickfair show earlier in the year.

Fortunately he’s uploaded a few images to Flickr too, so you can join TLCB Team immersing themselves in Monaco in 1988 via his photostream. Click the link above to head the greatest race on the Formula 1 calendar, long before it was boring.

There’ll be Elf to Pay

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It’s not often that The Lego Car Blog Elves are enthusiastic about a Lego model, beyond it resulting in a meal token. Today however, they’re beyond excited, as – in their minds – their ancestors sponsored the 1985 Lotus 97/T that gave Ayrton Senna his debut win.

What with it being the ’80s, John Player Special cigarettes did too – and it’s debatable which is worse for your health – but nevertheless that JPS gold-on-black livery sure does look cool.

This spectacular replica of the race-winning Lotus is the work of recent bloggee Robson M, whose other cigarette-sponsored Formula 1 car, also driven by Ayron Senna, appeared here earlier in the month.

A stunning recreation of the Elf/JPS livery, perfect presentation, and some rather clever building techniques make Robson’s Lotus 97/T well worth a closer look, and you can jump to 1985 via the link above, along with a bunch of excited TLCB Elves.

Senna & Cigarettes

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Formula 1 was different in 1991. Cigarettes, a variety of engine configurations, and only one Unites States Grand Prix. Oh, and a titanic battle between McLaren’s Ayrton Senna and Williams’ Nigel Mansell, that culminated in a third Driver’s World Championship for Senna and the only Constructor’s World Championship ever won by a V12 powered car.

This is that car, the awesome McLaren-Honda MP4/6, as designed, liveried, rendered and presented beautifully by Robson M aka BrickDesigners, and there’s more to see of Robson’s stunning recreation on Flickr. Click the link above to race in ’91.

Quick Cig

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LEGO’s new 42141 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car comes from a time when advertising dangerous things is no longer acceptable. Unless you’re Ferrari of course. Back in the ’80s and ’90s though, anything was OK.

Cue this giant packet of cigarettes, which – like the aforementioned LEGO set – isn’t based on one particular McLaren Formula 1 car, but rather is inspired by the Marlboro McLarens of the time.

It comes from apachaihapachai of Eurobricks, who has included a BuWizz bluetooth battery, and Buggy Motor to ensure his model has the speed to match the looks. Free building instructions are available and there’s more to see of apachai’s renders at the Eurobricks forum via the link above.

Neat Brazilian

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That’s got some clicks. If you’ve arrived here expecting to see something rather different, apologies. This is a neat Brazilian though, being the 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix winner in the hands of Brazilian F1 legend Ayrton Senna. That win helped the McLaren MP4/6, powered by Honda’s RA121-E V12 engine, to claim the 1991 Constructor’s Championship and cement itself as one of the all-time greats, and it’s been recreated beautifully in Lego form by previous bloggee Alexander Paschoaletto. Head to Alex’s photostream via the link for more.

The Rain Man

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This summer marks twenty years since the passing of one of sport’s greatest men, the legendary Ayrton Senna.

Born to wealthy Brazilian landowners in 1960, Senna started racing go-karts in his native Brazil, before moving on to Formula 3 in the UK and then rising to become one of the greatest talents that the sporting world has ever seen, winning three Formula 1 World Championships in ’88, ’90 and ’91.

This McLaren-Honda MP4/6 was the car in which Senna won his last World Championship, after which he departed McLaren at the end of the 1993 season to drive for Williams.

Senna was tragically killed the next year, when his Williams FW16 left the track at Imola’s Tamburello corner, hitting the concrete wall at 145mph. Brazil lost its hero, and Formula 1 lost probably its greatest ever talent.

Senna’s McLaren MP4/6 pictured here is the work of the brilliant Nathanael L, and was suggested to us via the Feedback Page by a reader. Nathanael’s work has featured here numerous times, and you can see more of his McLaren as well as all of his other wonderful vehicles through his Flickr photostream at the link above.

Twenty years on from that awful weekend in 1994, in which Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger also perished, Ayrton Senna’s legacy continues. Following the implementation of significant safety changes after the events at Imola, no driver has since died in a Formula 1 car, making Senna the last driver fatality in the sport.

It’s also been discovered that Senna secretly donated $millions to the children living in poverty in his native Brazil. He never told anyone, because that’s the kind of man he was.

Past Masters

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These astonishing classic Formula 1 cars, uncovered on both MOCpages and Brickshelf, are the work of Lego-builder F1Fan.

The yellow Camel-liveried car above is a 1987 Lotus 99T, powered by Honda’s ferocious 900bhp 1.5 litre turbo and featuring active suspension. In the hands of the legendary Ayrton Senna the 99T recorded six podiums and two race wins during the ’87 season, allowing Team Lotus to finish third overall behind Williams and McLaren (and ahead of Ferrari). Sadly both Team Lotus and Ayrton would die during the 1994 season, perhaps the biggest loss of talent in a single year of Formula 1.

The blue car below is one of the most innovative and recognisable Formula 1 cars of all time, the remarkable six-wheel Tyrrell P34. F1Fan’s version is based on the previous work by RoscoPC, and updates it to replicate the car from the 1976 International Trophy race at Silverstone.

Interestingly both of these classic Formula 1 cars feature technology which is now banned, making them in some respects more advanced than even the championship winning Red Bull of this year. See both beautiful racing cars at F1Fan’s MOCpage or Brickshelf account via the links above.

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