On a brisk morning at Silverstone Circuit, McLaren F1 star pilot Lando Norris, strapped himself into a car that’s unlike any he’s ever driven before—a full-scale Lego McLaren P1. Almost everything in this car, from the seats to the bodywork to the dashboard, is made of Lego pieces: 342,817 Lego Technic elements to be exact.
Lego has built other 1:1 car reproductions in the past, but the McLaren is special. You can actually race it, which is exactly what Norris did when he took a lap around the historic English race track. “It drives just like a real car. It drives pretty good!” Norris said.
This is the first life-sized, fully functional race car made of Lego Technic, a Lego system designed to build complex machines with fully functional mechanics. Unlike traditional Lego bricks, the Technic series uses pins, bolts, gears, and even electric motors to create mobile, articulated models, building an actual running car that behaved like a race car still seemed like an impossible design mission.
Building a car from Lego
Everything about this 2,690-pound marvel is hard to believe. Engineers had to first build a CAD model of the entire car out of 393 different types of Technic pieces—including 11 that were custom-molded for this model—to replicate the complex curves of the P1.
The resulting car is aesthetically accurate and structurally sound, mirroring the real P1’s aerodynamic form. The Lego body was albeit built on top of a metal chassis, the structural framework that supports all the components of the vehicle, including the engines, transmission, suspension, and body. “We worked hand in hand with McLaren’s engineers to ensure authenticity,” Lego Senior Project Manager Lukáš Horák says. “Their expertise helped us produce a model as close to the real McLaren P1 as possible.”
Take the bodywork, for example, made of three-arm pieces intricately linked together to form a pattern that resembles a fabric. Lego elements are made of hard ABS plastic, but when linked together in this special way, the resulting surface is actually flexible enough to mimic the metal bodywork of the original McLaren P1.
‘It handles quite well!’
But the most important part is that this is a fully drivable car. Instead of a conventional combustion engine, the car uses 768 Lego Power Function motors, arranged into eight motor packs. The motors simulate the P1’s V8 engine, making it capable of performing on the track.
The result—according to Norris, the Lego designers, and the McLaren engineers—is a Lego P1 that can steer and take on curves similar to its real-world counterpart.
Obviously, the original P1 is quite a different beast. Introduced in 2013, the P1 was designed to push the boundaries of performance and technology. It combines a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 combustion engine with an electric motor, capable of producing a total output of 903 horsepower and 664 lb-ft of torque. This power allows the P1 to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds, with a top speed electronically limited to 217 mph.
The car’s structure is built around a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis, ensuring lightweight yet high-strength construction. Its advanced aerodynamics, featuring an active rear wing and adjustable front flaps, allow it to generate up to 1,320 pounds of downforce at high speeds. Additionally, the P1 includes a sophisticated suspension system with adaptive dampers and hydraulic roll control, enabling the car to handle like a race car on the road. These features, combined with regenerative braking, make the McLaren P1 one of the most advanced and high-performing hypercars ever built.
“The car was an icon of its time,” says Ben Gulliver, Test & Development Director at McLaren. “I hope that through this collaboration, we inspire the next generation of engineers to push the boundaries of automotive innovation.”
Engineering through play
The life-sized car is a fancy way to promote Lego’s new 1:8 scale Technic McLaren P1, which has 3,893 pieces and features a 7-speed gearbox and V8 piston engine ($500). It embodies the Lego’s learning through play philosophy, which claims that humans learn to be creative and develop technological solutions through play. Studies show that play fosters cognitive engagement, creativity, and problem-solving, making it an ideal framework for teaching real-world skills like engineering and robotics.
Lego Technic is the most advanced expression of that brand ethos. It goes beyond the toys and display models of regular Lego to enables people to create real-world machinery, from actual robotic arms to autonomous rovers. Kids and adults alike have used Technic to create machines capable of performing practical tasks like sorting bricks or crushing cans for recycling. The sophistication of the Technic system—complete with hundreds of gears, cogs, axels, pneumatic components, electric motors, and programmable sensors—allows for genuine innovation in areas like mechanics and robotics.
This McLaren P1 is the pinnacle of Technic system. I just wish I could drive it—and yes, crash it too.