TLCB have just reviewed a championship-winning Formula 1 car, and now we have another! This is the brand new LEGO Technic 42228 McLaren MCL39 F1 Car.

Like the Williams-Renault FW14B a quarter-century before it, the McLaren MCL39 won both the Constructors and Drivers World Championships (making Lando Norris a world champion), and with LEGO’s longstanding relationship with the British car maker and its race team, the arrival of 42228 was almost to be expected.

At 1:8 scale and with 1,675 pieces, 42228 is a hefty Technic set, with a price-tag to match, costing £189.99 / $229.99 / €209.99 when it arrives on March 1st ’26. For that sizeable outlay buyers will get working steering and pushrod suspension, a V6 engine and two-speed (boo) gearbox under a removable engine cover, and a functional drag-reduction-system (DRS) on the rear wing linked to the transmission’s top (aka ‘only other’) gear.

You also get a seriously large amount of stickers to recreate McLaren’s 2025 sponsors (even the dodgy crypto-currency ones), but not – and unlike the aforementioned Icons 10353 Williams FW14B set – staggered width tyres. Again. Come on LEGO, this is a $220 set.

Still, we suspect 42228 will be a hugely successful Technic set when it lands later this year, and further cements LEGO’s relationship with the pinnacle of motorsport and – for 2025 at least – the team at the top of it. Even with a two-speed gearbox and chronically lazy tyre sizing.