As we've been hearing, Formula 1 is leaving other sports in the dust with a boost in popularity. A Nielsen Sports study from December 2024 reported that F1's global fanbase has reached 750 million – a 5.7 per cent increase in just three years. And the 2025 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne set a new attendance record, with 465,498 spectators turning up over the four-day event. Why? Part of the growth is attributed to Netflix’s popular Drive to Survive series, which has given the world an intimate look into the sport and its drivers, helping attract a younger and more diverse audience. Notably, women (that’s me!) now make up 41 per cent of the fanbase.
I was lucky enough to head from Sydney to Melbourne for the recent F1, and I saw this all first-hand. The other thing I noticed? Lego bags everywhere – kids carrying them, adults carrying them. I followed the trail to the Lego Fan Zone, where people were getting their hands on the brand-new Lego F1 collection.
It’s a partnership that makes a lot of sense. As noted, F1 is a brand that people are hugely passionate about – and so is Lego. The tiny bricks fill our childhood memories and our homes, are the subject of one of Australia’s top TV shows, and of course, the toy has its own global movie franchise.
At the Lego Fan Zone, I chat with Lego Australia & New Zealand boss Troy Taylor. “If you think about Lego as a brand, it's all about engineering and innovation, right? Just like the F1,” he says. “So the partnership's really a match made in heaven.
“There we launched a range of over 20 sets that you can buy, starting with Duplo, which is our preschool offering, going into Lego City. Then you progress into Speed Champions, and then it gets harder as you progress into Lego Technic, which is more about technical builds – they have pulleys and cogs, and you actually build the engine and the chassis of the car. So there's really something for everyone.
“The real unique thing about this partnership is we've actually got the license to do all ten teams. So you can actually build all ten teams, and collect all ten teams, if you want. The response has been huge.”
What better souvenir for a fan to be able to take home from the race – or buy from the Lego store, if the reality is that you’re not actually going to make it to the race track this year? Are you an Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris fan? Take home a model McLaren replica. Only have eyes for Lewis Hamilton and his new red wheels? Get your hands on a little Lego Ferrari.
Lego's Global Head of Product, Lucas Reynoso Vizcaino, who's based at Lego HQ in Denmark, actually worked with every F1 team to design the range. “It was two years in the making. It was amazing meeting the different teams and getting to know their different cultures and engineers,” he says. "We have a lot of similarities – there are a lot of engineers that love Lego as a brand, and then, on our side, we're big fans of motorsports and vehicles. We've been doing products around cars forever, so it's such a good synergy.”
While Lego Fan Zones will be a feature at 13 select Grand Prix events across the world in 2025, the average Aussie won’t get a chance to actually experience those. Instead, Australians can head to Melbourne’s Legoland Discovery Centre, for a Lego F1-themed Build the Thrill event, on now until April 27. Here you can check out a 3D Brick-built Lego F1 car made from more than 21,000 bricks, build your own Minifigure driver and then pop your driver into a custom-built race car, race on the track and enjoy interactive challenges.
On the Lego Play app, kids can dive into their passion and access creative tools to experiment, create and share with other F1 and Lego fans.
And, of course, you can buy Lego F1 products from www.lego.com/en-au and in local Lego shops, like this Sydney store which, when it opened recently, became the world’s biggest Lego store.