LEGO Speed Champions 76919 2023 McLaren Formula 1 race car detailed building review & comparison
Hi everyone, this is Balazs from RacingBrick! The LEGO March Formula 1 madness continues: after the Icons McLaren MP4/4 set, here is the first Speed Champions release to review, and this set simply smashed the poll I posted last week with more than half the votes! So folks, here’s the 76919 2023 McLaren Formula 1 race car! On the front of the box there are no big surprises, we see the car on a race track. On the back we see another car far away, but I can’t really tell if it’s a LEGO car or not. Here we see
a similar view of the real deal and some details of the cockpit. Let’s open the box! The set has 245 pieces, it will be available from March 1 and the price is 27 EUR or USD. All other local prices and pre-order options can be found at the link in the description or in the pinned comment. We get 3 numbered bags, a separate car base piece, the manual and a sticker sheet with 26 stickers. Sometimes I wish LEGO would release Speed Champions cars with fewer sponsors, but hey, this is Formula 1 after all! Speaking of which,
I have the previous Speed Champions Formula 1 car here for comparison, the Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E from the set 76909 that came out
of sponsors printed on it. This is how the build begins, nothing unusual so far, apart from the piece at the front. Here are the first stickers, many more will follow. The rear is extended with some larger elements. I added the back of the seat and also the steering wheel, which is now a very cool new printed part. Here is our build at the end of bag 1. Bag 2 starts with the rear axles, then we add 4 bucket handles to simulate the suspension elements. Another batch of tiles with small stickers. This part was recolored for
the Retro Roller Skate set, here it certainly won’t be visible. Another rather unusual part in a Speed Champions set, a window with the pane in it, and we’re adding an empty one too! Strange things keep happening, here we have our first printed part but, surprise surprise, we have to put a sticker on it too! This attachment method is pretty cool, we have these rods there and a clip here, that’s how the element is attached. But it gets even better, because we have to attach a minifigure ski here! As you can see, the position of the
two slopes is completely out of the LEGO grid because the ski element is squeezed between them, but thanks to the clip attachment method they can be aligned and the connection is secure enough, that’s a very innovative solution! It’s time to build the front part, we have multiple printed parts, first this tiny element and then this much larger slope with all the sponsors. There’re new wedge pieces here, apparently continuing the tradition of introducing these in Speed Champions sets. The nose cone is finished, it looks nice and detailed, it’s attached with ooops, ok this is a bit
fragile here, so it will be fixed in place with the front axle. That’s the end of bag 2. The side pods are going to be pretty complex. I think this is another new wedge type, at least I couldn’t find the ID on Bricklink. It’s getting harder and harder to keep track of these, we get multiple samples here, all with stickers of course. So here is the sidepod in place, the new parts help with the shaping, I have to agree. I also like the wedge plate that is upside down. Another nice solution is to have an
angled piece there, although it won’t be super stable. Here comes the center assembly of the rear wing, oh yes I’m supposed to leave a gap there, and those are the side panels with the last stickers. A light here, then the tiny minifigure spoon rear view mirrors, I love them! Here’s a printed piece for the camera pod, then we need to bend the halo and attach it properly. And finally, the tires! Brand new printed slick tires with printed wheel covers. They really are the highlight of the set, so many things people have been asking for! The
wheels we had 2 years ago were not slick, and there was another key difference – the hubcaps were printed, not the tires themselves. These were still removable from the rim, but looking at the newer ones from last year, the texture and probably the compound seems to be different there. It’s definitely not hard plastic, because my nail leaves an mark, but it still seems different. It looks a bit like the material of the wheels from the Icons McLaren MP4/4, not exactly the same, but that’s the closest I could find. And yes, we have 4 identical wheels
in this case too, but at Speed Champions scale with a 2023 Formula 1 car, I don’t think that’s as big a problem as it’s with this car. Modern Formula 1 tires are about 30% wider at the rear, which in this case means that the front tires are 12.5 mm wide so the rear tires should be about 16.5 mm. I’m sure it would be noticeable, but then it would already be touching the rear wing, because the LEGO parts are just too big to fit everything in that size. Oh, and a rhetorical question, since these 2 feel
very similar – if these could be printed, why were these left blank? Anyway, it’s time to attach all the wheels and the build is finished! Here’s our completed Formula 1 car, and I think it looks really great from all angles. The only thing that bothers me is the top of the side pods probably, where you can see the edges of that orange part, which is quite blocky, instead of the smooth curves of the original. When I compare it to the Mercedes: Wow, so much has changed in 2 years! I’m sure the new elements play a
big part, but the new model looks much more detailed and refined, this one almost feels like something from the 6 Stud era. Not everything is perfect though. The camera pod here was a jumper plate so it sat more or less firmly on the stud, the new one has a tile which means it doesn’t really have a central position and can slide around. The stability of the front wing is about the same, you can’t just knock it off easily but if you try to grab something it will fall off for sure. These two parts really bother
me behind the front wheels because they are easy to turn around and also very easy to knock off. The rear wing was definitely more secure on the old model, the 2 stud connection in the middle of this part doesn’t have the same clutch power. There’s another step backwards – on the Mercedes we had the option of using the number of both drivers, and we could also swap the camera pod piece accordingly. This car only has the yellow version, which as far as I know belongs to Lando Norris, the one on Oscar Piastri’s car is supposed
to be black. On the other hand, the printed steering wheel is a nice improvement and the driver has an even lower, much more realistic position. So, let’s sum it up! I think this set looks great, it has a painful amount of stickers, but it also offers tons of detail thanks to them and some new parts. There are a lot of improvements over its predecessor, the new tires are really amazing, but some corners have been cut and the overall stability of the set is going in the wrong direction in my opinion. Let’s talk about the price!
27 EUR or USD for a Speed Champions single pack, ouch. Last year it was 25$, and between 2020 and 2022 it was only 20$. I don’t think this price increase again was necessary, and although pre-orders are showing that we will be able to get these sets around 20 EUR on day one at other retailers, Speed Champions as a theme is unfortunately starting to lose its excellent value for money ratio. These builds still offer a high level of complexity and building experience in a small form factor, but they are unfortunately no longer as affordable. Please let
me know folks what you think about the set in the comment section, if you liked this video, then please give it a thumbs up. And don’t forget to subscribe with notifications, because I’ll be posting more Speed Champions videos soon! See you next time, bye bye!
