Formula 1 and Lego have built one of the most unexpected partnerships in modern motorsport, and this weekend at Silverstone the collaboration reaches its biggest scale yet. Ahead of the British Grand Prix, all 22 current F1 drivers will trade their multi million pound machines for something built almost entirely from plastic bricks.
From Miami Chaos to Silverstone Spectacle
The idea did not start as a one off stunt. Following the success of last year’s Miami Grand Prix drivers’ parade, when Formula 1 drivers were let loose in ten full size Lego F1 cars, Lego’s master builders have now constructed smaller, faster, nimbler “minicars” for Silverstone’s driver parade. That Miami parade became one of the most shared moments of the season, largely because the drivers did not treat the cars gently.
Last year’s two seaters, which had teammates sitting one behind the other in a shared car, have now been replaced by 22 individual go karts, one for each driver, complete with electric motors, plastic bumpers and roll hoops. The redesign was not just about novelty. Lego senior designer Jonathan Jurion explained that the team learned from Miami that the cars would get smashed, so they added safety features like the roll hoop and fenders to protect both the bricks and the drivers.
The Numbers Behind the Build
These are not simple toy sets scaled up. Each of the 22 LEGO F1 minicars is made from more than 28,000 real LEGO bricks, and the entire fleet took over 6,400 combined hours to design, engineer and build. Rather than sharing cars between teams, every driver gets a personalised racer inspired by their team’s 2026 livery, complete with official colours, sponsor detailing, team logos and driver numbers.
The construction itself happened far from the United Kingdom. The minicars were built by a team of 20 designers, engineers and LEGO specialists at the LEGO Group’s factory in Kladno in the Czech Republic. Despite being made of bricks, they are genuinely functional vehicles. Each minicar is fully drivable and can reach speeds of up to 25 km/h, enough to complete a full lap of Silverstone before the main race begins. Once finished, each kart weighs around 280 kilograms, with 65 kilograms of that total coming from the Lego bricks themselves, built on top of a specially designed steel structure.
The parade itself has a specific slot in the weekend schedule. Taking place within one and a half hours before the race on Sunday, the Drivers’ Parade is traditionally where fans get to see all 22 drivers together on track, and this year the procession will be transformed into a full scale Lego spectacle.
Not the First Brick on Track
Silverstone’s relationship with life size Lego builds actually predates this year’s parade. In September 2024, Lego and McLaren Automotive unveiled a life size, drivable McLaren P1 built from 342,817 Lego Technic pieces, which McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris then tested with a lap around Silverstone Circuit. That project pushed Lego engineering further than any previous full scale build. The replica weighed around 1,220 kilograms and had fully functional steering, potentially making it the first large scale Lego build capable of being steered and driven on a racetrack.
Powering that car required serious engineering work outside the usual Lego catalogue. The McLaren P1 replica used a steel frame beneath its Technic body, rolled on tires identical to the real car’s, and was powered by 768 Lego electric motors split into eight motor packs, reaching a top speed of roughly 40 mph. Building it took 8,344 hours of work from 23 specialists across engineering, design and assembly.
A Growing Partnership
The brick invasion of the paddock is not limited to cars. Last year’s British Grand Prix trophies were also made from Lego bricks, with Lando Norris taking home a Lego replica of the iconic RAC Trophy after his win. F1’s commercial side has been vocal about why the collaboration keeps expanding. F1 Chief Commercial Officer Emily Prazer said last year’s Miami parade was one of the most memorable and talked about moments of the season, and that this year’s Silverstone activation is meant to build on that with an even bigger spectacle. Lego’s own marketing chief framed it as a direct response to fan demand. Julia Goldin, Chief Product and Marketing Officer of the LEGO Group, said the excitement from drivers and fans at the Miami parade was impossible to ignore, so the company decided to go even bigger this time.
The wider tie up between Lego and Formula 1 has become one of the sport’s most successful collaborations since the brand launched its full product range earlier this year. Whether the drivers keep their competitive instincts in check remains unlikely. Given how competitive the Miami parade turned out to be, nobody expects the field to take it easy just because they are sitting behind the wheel of something built from plastic bricks rather than carbon fibre.
For a sport built on speed measured in tenths of a second, watching 22 world class drivers pilot go karts capped at 25 km/h is an odd but oddly fitting way to open a British Grand Prix weekend. It is silly, it is loud, and by most accounts it is exactly what fans asked for.
