Lego made a full-sized, fully functional McLaren P1 sports car out of 342,817 Lego Technic pieces and had McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris do a lap in it around Silverstone Circuit.
F1 drivers regularly have their endurance tested on the track, but having stepped on a Lego brick before, I can’t imagine what sitting in a car made of more than 300,000 of them would feel like.
It took 23 specialists from McLaren and Lego a total of 8,344 hours to develop and build the model car (6,134 hours on development and 2,210 on production), which features an electric motor made from Lego Technic Function batteries and an electric car battery. The final product weighed 1,220 kg (2,690 lbs.). According to Lego it is their first “big build” ever capable of steering and is capable of traveling further than any Lego model before it. The Lego Technic sets sold in stores have buildable gearboxes, wheels and axles that can function.
“The Lego Technic engine consists of eight motor packs, each consisting of 96 Lego Power function motors, which means the car features a total of 768 Lego motors,” according to the company. “The eight motor packs imitate the V8 seen in the original McLaren P1.”
Norris, who is currently second in the F1 driver standings this season behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, drove the Lego car around the track at Silverstone, where Norris finished third in the British Grand Prix back in July. The car looked able to reach a decent speed in the video above.
“It felt like a car,” said Norris, noting that he took it easy since he noticed the side mirrors wobbling as he drove.
The 1:8 scale version of the Lego McLaren P1 sells for $450 and features “a 7-speed gearbox with a dual clutch transmission, suspension, V8 piston engine, adjustable rear wing, and opening dihedral doors with advanced mechanisms.” It has 3,893 pieces.
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