McLaren P1 Created From LEGO Driven By F1 Driver Lando Norris
LEGO Group are no strangers to building life-size examples of some amazing cars. But this project may be one of its best. It has partnered with McLaren Automotive to achieve the toughest LEGO Technic challenge yet. They created a one-of-a-kind, fully drivable McLaren P1.
It was built from 342,817 LEGO Technic elements and measures 4,980mm long, 2,101mm wide and 1,133mm high. The vehicle weighs about 1220kg and has fully functional steering capabilities, making it the first LEGO project that can be steered to take on challenging racetrack corners.
The fully mobile model was drive by current McLaren F1 driver, Lando Norris around the iconic British racing circuit, Silverstone. The track consists of challenging twists and turns spanning 5.891km. It was an excellent choice to serve as the proving ground for the one-of-a-kind creation.
This car features an electric motor, LEGO Technic Function batteries and an electric car battery, which allow it to travel further than any model built before it. The engine consists of eight motor packs, each having 96 LEGO Power function motors for a total of 768 LEGO motors. The 8 motor packs imitate the V8 that is in the original McLaren P1.
“Having worked on the original P1 programme for McLaren, it’s amazing to see so many of the elements from the original McLaren P1™ brought to life so realistically by the LEGO Technic team for the full-scale model,” said Ben Gulliver, Test & Development Director, McLaren Automotive.
The arduous task of building this life-size replica, required the help of many people and hours of work. It took a team of 23 specialists from design, engineering and building from the LEGO group and McLaren Automotive to create this car. The project also required 8,344 hours of development and construction as well as the use of 393 different types of LEGO Technic elements.
McLaren’s actual P1 hypercar has a kerb weight of 1,490kg and is powered by a 3.8-litre twin turbocharged V8 engine (727bhp) and single electric e-motor (177bhp) that produce a combined 903bhp. The engine is mated to a 7-speed seamless shift dual clutch gearbox.
It has a 4.7kWh, 535V lithium-ion battery, which consists of 324-cell lithium-ion pack placed behind the cabin. It can be charged directly by the engine or via a plug-in charger that requires 2 hours to achieve a full charge.
The car can accelerate from 0-100km’h in just 2.8 seconds and reach a top speed of 350km/h. It also happens to be one of the best handling cars of its time. On electric power alone, the car can travel about 11km. Though that doesn’t sound like much because its job is to assist the petrol engine when needed to ensure an optimum power delivery.
Produced between 2013 and 2015 in Woking, England, the P1 was an amazing vehicle for its time. It was hand-assembled by 61 engineers in a facility that produced one complete vehicle per day. In total McLaren produced 375 units of the P1 during its production run including special editions.
