Watch F1 Driver Lando Norris Take A Life-Sized Lego McLaren P1 Around Silverstone

Over the past few years, Lego Technic has been a force of nature in the world of toy cars. The detail, the DIY, the sheer variety of kits from F1 cars to supercars to heavy trucks. So, what do you do to celebrate the launch of an iconic hypercar model kit? You scale it up and built a life-sized McLaren P1 out of Lego Technic parts.

Consisting of 342,817 individual Lego Technic pieces, the 1:1-scale Lego P1 manages to weigh 595 pounds lighter than a real McLaren P1. Sure, it’s nowhere near as quick as a real P1 and some of that weight reduction might be due to all the holes, but the end result was still a running, driving car. In fact, it runs and drives just well enough that McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris was able to take it for a lap around Silverstone, the venue for the British Grand Prix. That’s at least 3.66 miles of range, and while that isn’t terribly impressive in the grand scheme of electric cars, it’s pretty damn impressive for something made primarily out of Lego.

At this point, you’re probably wondering what’s under the hood of this thing. Well, Lego claims it uses Lego battery packs along with an unspecified electric car battery pack, but that’s not the most interesting part. See, this P1’s replica engine uses eight Lego motor packs, each consisting of 96 Lego Power Function motors. Add it all up, and you get a grand total of 768 tiny Lego motors powering this life-size P1 replica, a number that borders on absurdity. Furthermore, Lego claims this is the first steerable life-size vehicle it’s built, so the 23 experts who built this thing over 8,344 hours were really treading new ground, as far as toys go.

So, what did Lando Norris think about the Lego P1 around Silverstone? Well, Norris said that “It actually drives pretty good,” remarking that “it felt like a car.” That shouldn’t seem like a huge shock, but then you remember that this thing’s constructed heavily out of children’s building materials. That’s like building a house out of pancakes and finding out the second floor can actually bear a load.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to buy a lifesize Lego P1, but you can buy a 1:8 scale version, and it stickers for $449.99. Admittedly, that’s a lot of dosh for a model that isn’t as detailed as say, an AUTOart 1:18-scale model, but there’s a certain appeal in building all manner of systems yourself, from butterfly doors to a replica of the P1’s V8 engine. That ought to keep you occupied for hours.

(Photo credits: Lego)

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