Tag Archives: Formula 1

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.

What Might Have Been

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The story of the 2022 Formula 1 season is one of what might have been. After years in the doldrums, Scuderia Ferrari finally had the fastest car on the grid, and not only that, they had one of the most talented driver pairings too. Ferrari duly won two of the first three races, with fastest lap at all three, and with only one podium place dropped. And then – courtesy of some inexplicable tactical decisions – they threw it all away.

Now longstanding readers of this crumbling ruin in the corner of the internet will know that we aren’t Scuderia Ferrari’s biggest fans, what with them being immoral scumbags and everything, but if they stopped us having to see Christian Horner’s smug face every week we’d have taken it. However, unfortunately for Ferrari’s drivers – and us – some of the worst decision making in modern Formula 1 history gifted Red Bull’s Max Verstappen a second consecutive World Championship, and Horner’s smugness gained its own gravity.

Still, Ferrari’s 2022 F1 car looked rather lovely, and probably was the fastest car of the season, if only the team weren’t run by muppets, and it looks just as stunning in brick form courtesy of Noah_L, who has added the F1-75 to his amazing catalogue of Scuderia Ferrari racers.

Noah’s astonishing attention to detail is brought to life by some truly masterful building techniques, with superbly replicated decals and impeccable presentation making his Scuderia Ferrari F1-75 one of the most realistic real-world cars of the year so far.

A beautiful gallery of imagery is available to view on Flickr, where links to Noah’s previous Scuderia Ferrari racers and building instructions for the F1-75 pictured here can also be found. Build your own 2022 title challenger and reenact Ferrari’s strategic incompetence (not pitting under the safety car, pitting two cars at once, pitting for the wrong tyres…) via the link above. Just don’t be surprised if Christian Horner appears out of nowhere looking smug.

You Better Bolide It

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Revealed here at The Lego Car Blog as part of the new Technic line-up for 2023, the new 42151 Bugatti Bolide set is not a TLCB favourite, being an expensive officially-licensed version of a car we hadn’t heard of, with limited technical functionality.

But that hasn’t stopped previous bloggee M-Longer, who has used 42151’s 905 pieces to create something rather better.

M_Longer’s fantastic 42151 B-Model, which not only looks far more appealing than the set from which it has been built, appears completely unconstrained by the Bolide’s 905 pieces. In fact the only giveaway to the model’s origins are a few upside-down stickers.

Better yet, the Bolide’s black-and-yellow colour scheme works a treat on this alternate, creating a Formula 1 car reminiscent of those that wore the Renault-Sport livery in the late 2010s.

Working steering and a V6 engine turned by the rear wheels feature, and there’s more to see of M-Longer’s brilliant Bugatti Bolide B-Model at both Bricksafe and Eurobricks, where a link to building instructions can also be found.

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.

Grand Prix ’64

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The year is 2064, and the Formula 1 has gone from strength to strength! The ’64 season features an amazing 42 races , 36 of which are in the United States, wherein the best drivers in the world (and Nicholas Latifi) battle to discover who the FIA’s Race Director will deem worthy of becoming World Champion!

Yuki Studona is hoping the fresh engines being fitted to his Octan Racing car in the final pitstop of the ’64 U.S. Grand Prix will give him the win, and he’ll be able to carry that momentum into next week’s ’64 U.S.A Grand Prix before the season wraps up in the Unites States in two weeks’ time.

Join the F1 fans at the ’64 U.S. Grand Prix and cheer on Yuki courtesy of lokiloki29 via the link above!

Insert Safety Car Here

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Mercedes-AMG’s seven-year dominance of the Formula 1 World Championship finally ended in 2021. Well, sort of… they still won the Constructor’s Championship, making it eight-in-a-row, but Lewis Hamilton did not win an eighth Driver’s Championship, and as such may now never move ahead of the record he shares with Schumacher.

Of course we also say ‘sort of’ thanks the controversial way in which Hamilton lost the Driver’s Championship on the final laps of the final race to Max Verstappen.

Thanks to crash-a-holic Lattifi (who – if he wasn’t paying to drive the car – surely wouldn’t be in Formula 1), and an improbable safety car decision that eventually cost race director Michael Masi his job, Verstappen was able to pass Hamilton on the final lap, giving us the first new World Champion in four seasons, and ending years of ‘#blessed’ instagram posts from the bejewelled multiple-champion.

Cue much arm waving and shouting from Mercedes-AMG (unusual, seeing as Christian Horner of Red Bull had done it all season for various imagined grievances), an investigation, but the race result standing. Which, by the way, we’re all for.

Yes the rules hadn’t been followed, but we’re of the opinion that even if there’s just one corner of the race remaining, it is a race, and therefore it should be, well… raced. Plus it made for amazing TV.

Anyway, Verstappen took the Championship, Hamilton felt what it’s like to lose (although he’s more than familiar with that this season), and fans got a finale to talk about for years to come.

This is the car that took Verstappen to his first Formula 1 Driver’s World Championship, the Honda-powered Red Bull RB16B, as created in spectacular detail by previous bloggee Noah_L of Flickr, and joining his already-impressive roster of brick-built modern Formula 1 cars.

The incredible realism is enhanced by some frankly jaw-dropping decals, created for Noah by a fellow builder, and there’s more to see of his astonishing (and beautifully presented) creation at his ‘Red Bull RB16B’ album on Flickr, where a link to building instructions can also be found.

Click the link above to deploy the safety car…

*It’s the Azerbaijan Grand Prix today. If you’re a Hamilton / Mercedes-AMG fan, this link from the 2018 race may raise a snicker.

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.

LEGO Technic 42141 McLaren Formula 1™ Race Car | Set Preview

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LEGO Technic 42141 McLaren Formula 1 Car

Here it is! After dropping a few hints when we revealed the rest of the 2022 Technic line-up earlier, this is the brand new 42141 Technic McLaren Formula 1 car.

Which is a surprisingly generic title, given Formula 1 cars usually have ludicrously long names to encompass their various marketing requirements. This is because 42141 isn’t (perhaps disappointingly) a 1:8 scale recreation of a single McLaren Formula 1 car, rather it’s a homage to recent McLaren Formula 1 cars in general, without actually being one in particular.

The reason for this odd approach is due to Formula 1’s regulations changing significantly for 2022, and McLaren haven’t yet revealed their new MCL36 car. Thus the 42141 set uses the new proportions expected, design cues from last year, and the colour scheme from the 2021 MCL35 (although this may well appear again in 2022) to create an approximation of a modern McLaren racer. Perhaps LEGO could’ve just waited a bit?

The sponsors are all present and correct though, with accurately recreated decals (‘splunk’ being our favourite) adorning many panels just like the real thing. Er, things. Several of the panels are new too, debuting on 42141 alongside the return of the Batmobile Tumbler wheels (which are wrongly the same front and rear, boo.), and the appearance of some new Technic frame pieces.

There are 1,432 pieces in all, contributing to a sizeable 65cm length, and – perhaps less so – to the ’18+’ age range on the box. Which we all know is just a marketing ploy.

With a working V6 engine, suspension, steering, and an oddly-locking differential (we’re not sure why an F1 car would have this?), 42141 contains nothing more advanced than you would expect to find on a 10+ Technic set, but with ’18+’ printed on a black box, LEGO can both sell this set to adults more easily and charge more for it; 42141 is due to cost around $180/£160.

Which to us seems rather a lot for a model that isn’t actually a McLaren Formula 1 car – despite also definitely being one – and which has more marketing than substance.

Then again, that might just make it the most realistic Formula 1 car you could ever wish for…

Turn Your Nose Up

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The wildly incompetent back-alley of the internet that is TLCB actually came to be because the proper Lego blogs were turning their noses up at vehicular creations. We’re not sure if ‘turning their noses up‘ translates internationally very well, but basically you had more chance of unearthing pirate treasure under your sink than seeing your car featured.

Cue the arrival of TLCB, and car builders still probably wishing they could appear on a proper website rather than here…

Anyway, a lot has changed since then, and proper sites like The Brothers Brick now not only blog vehicles, some even have vehicle builders on staff too. Which means that this splendid 1990 Tyrrell 019 Formula 1 car was not found by one of our Elves, as instead this TLCB Writer first saw it blogged on The Brothers Brick. Which makes this site rather pointless.

Still, our title is much more tenuous and you don’t get ‘Your Mom’s so fat…’ jokes over there, so we’re going to blog it here too.

Said Tyrrell 019 was – whilst not a race winner – a regular points scorer during the 1990 season, in part thanks to its revolutionary ‘high nose’ design that allowed maximum air underneath it, thereby generating more downforce along the car’s underside.

It set the template for nose cone design right up until Formula 1 banned high noses in 2012 due to fears over safety (in doing so making F1 cars horrendously ugly overnight), and it’s been replicated beautifully by builder Tenderlok in Model Team form.

Excellent custom decals, a replica Cosworth V8 engine, detailed cockpit, removable bodywork, and an ingeniuous (if slightly ‘illegal’) front wing connection technique add to the realism, and there’s more to see of Tenderlok’s Tyrrell 019, complete with its upturned nose, on both Flickr and at the Eurobricks discussion forum. Or The Brother’s Brick of course.

The Winningest Horse

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Formula 1 hasn’t always been dulled by Mercedes-AMG’s utter dominance. Back in the early 2000s it was dulled by Scuderia Ferrari’s utter dominance, which peaked with this car; 2004’s imaginatively named F2004.

Winning fifteen of the season’s eighteen races, taking Ferrari to their sixth consecutive Constructor’s Championship, and Michael Schumacher to his fifth straight Driver’s Championship (and seventh overall), the F2004 was one of the most successful Formula 1 cars of all time, and the penultimate Ferrari of the V10 era.

This magnificent replica of Schumacher’s championship winning Scuderia Ferrari F2004 is the work of newcomer LN Teknik, who has recreated the real car beautifully in Technic form.

Working inboard pushrod suspension, functional steering, a removable engine cover and front and rear wings, plus – of course – a working V10 engine all feature, and there’s lots more to see at Flickr, Bricksafe, and the Eurobricks forum, where a link to building instructions can also be found.

Gives You Wings

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The 2021 Formula 1 season is about to begin, with the team reveals arriving thick and fast. TLCB – with our finger on the pulse as usual – are bringing you a car from 2011…

Of course what colour sponsorship the teams have this year won’t change the fact that they’ll be fighting for second place, and we’ll be watching Formula-1-driver-cum-irritating-eco-warrior Lewis Hamilton cruise to an 8th World Championship in the dominant Mercedes-AMG.

However it wasn’t always Mercedes-Benz who ruled Formula 1. In fact there have been several teams that have dominated the sport for a period, including Williams (remember that!), McLaren, Ferrari*, and – just before the current AMG-whitewash – Red Bull.

From 2010 to 2014 Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel won four consecutive World Championships, in part due to this car; the fabulous Adrian Newey designed ‘blown diffuser’ RB7, that used exhaust gasses to create downforce even when the engine was coasting. Not bad for a soft drinks company.

This brilliant recreation of the title-winning Red Bull RB7 comes from Noah_L of Flickr, who has not only built and photographed his RB7 absolutely beautifully, he’s endowed it with some of the most realistic (and complicated) decals we’ve ever seen on a Lego model, even down to the ‘Pirelli P Zero’ labels on the tyres.

It’s a wonderfully accurate build, with removable rear bodywork, a highly detailed engine, and spindly ‘suspension’, and there are loads more stunning images to see at Noah’s ‘Red Bull RB7’ album.

Click the link to head to a time before Mercedes-Benz domination, taking the knee, spectator-less venues, and Lewis Hamilton tweeting that we need to do more for the environment from inside his private jet.

*We know the link isn’t to a dominant early 2000s Ferrari, because surprisingly the Archives reveal we’ve never blogged a Scuderia Ferrari from the Schumacher-era. However we will take any opportunity to remind people that Ferrari are scumbags… Here’s the link again.

Red Racer

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The 2021 Formula 1 season is about to begin, in which some tiny sports car manufacturers (Aston Martin, Alpine, McLaren, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari) will fight over second place behind Mercedes-AMG.

Of course for three of the five teams above, it’s literally just the brand name stuck on the side of the car, which the team itself has nothing whatsoever to do with. Which might be part of the problem.

We’d go back to the more interesting (and sponsorship free) old days, where manufacturers built the cars they raced and the rules were lax enough to allow them to make what they were good at.

Regular bloggee Tim Henderson is enabling the time travel, and there’s more to see of his ‘Vintage Formula 1’ creation via the album of the same name by clicking here.

Lotus 18 | Picture Special

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This beautiful creation is a Lotus 18, and it’s one of the most wonderful racing cars ever made.

Succeeding Colin Chapman’s Lotus 16 (what happened to 17?), the 18 was designed to compete in both Formula 1 and Formula 2, and was powered by a little Coventry Climax 4-cylinder engine, first in 2500cc and then 1500cc sizes when Formula 1 reduced the engine limit.

The 18 gave Lotus’ their first Formula 1 win, plus two-time World Champion Jim Clark his first Grand Prix drive, before he and Innes Ireland took Lotus to the Constructors Runner-up spot in the 1960 World Championship.

However it wasn’t just Team Lotus who raced the 18, with Rob Walker Racing leasing a car to be driven by a new hotshot driver by the name of Stirling Moss.

Moss won the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix for Rob Walker Racing, the first time a privateer team had ever one a Formula 1 race, with only two teams managing it since.

Moss went on to take another win later in the season, although the Lotus 18’s campaign was marred by Moss’s injury at Spa-Francorchamps which put him out for most of the championship, and fellow Lotus 18 driver Alan Stacey’s death at the same track, after the 26 year old driver hit a bird.

Moss returned to racing though, continuing to campaign the Lotus 18 successfully for Rob Walker Racing in 1961, winning another two races and taking third in the World Championship behind the two Ferrari drivers.

The Lotus 18 was quite an important car then. It gave not only Lotus, but several future racing greats their early wins, their first Formula 1 drives, and – sadly in Alan Stacy’s case – their last drive too.

This unfathomably good recreation of the Lotus 18 comes from Andre Pinto, whose stunning replica of Sir Stirling Moss’s 1960 race-winner is one of the finest historic racing cars that this site has ever featured.

Beautiful detailing and attention to detail is evident everywhere you look, and there’s lots more to see at both the Eurobricks discussion forum and at Andre’s ‘Lotus 18 Stirling Moss‘ album on Flickr.

Click the link above to take a look at one of the most important Formula 1 cars ever made.

A Quick Cig

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The FIA is hardly a bastion of morality, but it has at least outlawed cigarette advertising on racing cars. Unless you’re Ferrari of course. Back in the ’90s though, promoting cancer was so acceptable that Williams not only had Camel cigarettes adorning its 1992 Adrian Newey-designed FW14B, they teamed it with alcohol sponsorship too.

We’re not sure the Camel or Labatt’s logos enhanced the FW14B’s speed in any way, but the money they brought sure helped, and Williams duly won the 1992 Championship – and made Nigel Mansell World Champion – with a then-record 9 race wins.

This brilliant small-scale replica of the title-winning Williams comes from TLCB Master MOCer Luca Rusconi (aka RoscoPC), who is better known for his hugely detailed large-scale Formula 1 recreations. Built using a fraction of the pieces but just as recognisable, Luca has turned his hand to historic racing cars on a much smaller scale, with the advantage of course that these are easier for others to build at home.

Suggested to us by a reader (and past bloggee themselves), Luca’s Williams FW14B is available to view on Rebrickable, where instructions can be purchased alongside those for a host of other famous classic F1 cars. Click here to see all the images and find downloadable building instructions to turn 169 pieces into William’s championship-winning cigarette advertisement.