Set Review ➟ LEGO® 10330 - McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna
With the new Formula 1 season about to start, LEGO has again released new sets aimed to align with the race & LEGO fans. While there are more LEGO sets aimed at racing, this is the first Icon in this category. The new LEGO Icons 10330 set is expected to hit the market March 1st, 2024, with an expected price of 79,99.
What makes an icon an icon?
The instruction manual gives you a special the feel with a very crisp layout, adding how this legendary car won 15 out of 16 races, and was on pole position 15 out of 16 races. With drivers Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, McLaren had a iconic set of drivers too.
LEGO made the choice to add season winner Ayrton Senna to the set as a minifig, which is a nice bonus. If at this point these names vaguely mean something to you, there is one more step of preparation to do before you start the build. Watch the Senna documentary (on Netflix and other services). LEGO has hit it spot in making Senna and this car an icon set, and once you’ve seen this documentary your appreciation for this will only grow.
Let’s get to the building phase!
The set consists of 6 bags , a few stickers and 4 wheels (more about those later). First, we assemble the minifig of Ayrton Senna and a small platform. Once that is done, we start with the car.
I was expecting to build the platform on which the car rests first, but we start with the car. We start building the bottom of the car and in that we build the base of the set and the area where the engine will set. LEGO has chosen some green and yellow accents here, even though they won’t be seen once the build is complete. This seems to be a reference to the green and yellow in the Brazilian flag and the iconic helmet of Senna.
Once we’ve added the engine cover, we continue with the rear wheel-suspension, and we start adding the first parts of the red and white outside.
After building the front suspension we add it to the car and it starts growing to the final size.
Again we see some green and yellow accents in the build of the steering and as a base of the outside panels. Not to be seen in the final stage, just a few more references it seems.
We add the red/white printed nose panel and some nice small parts to show that in those days, shifting gears and operating the car meant more levers and more physical work than it does today.
When we add the steering wheel and finish the seat, we can add the minifig. Let’s be honest, the minifig should not be in, we’ll keep him on the platform.
The next pages and bags will help build the paneling of the car. The shape of the car is now really coming to life. We add the base of the nose, add the base of the wing and the sided to complete it.
Now its time to build the back of the car, a hood that can easily be removed also when the build is completed. Just like back in the day, it comes of to expose the engine.
When it’s added on, all that remains is to add the wheels.
LEGO has added new wheels to this set. The tires are hard, have no identifying numbers on them, and are permanently set on the rim. They come as a completed set. These slicks feel great! There is however one issue, one we have seen on multiple F1 sets now… the size.
On these cars, the back wheels are a lot wider compared to the front wheels. The four wheels we get in the box are all the same width though…
To be fair, once the car is done it brings a smile to your face, it is a very recognizable and well modeled icon. You immediately see what it is, that late 80’s awesome racing car.
But the size of the rear wheels would have made it perfect. On the original, the rear wheels are almost double the width, so it is definitely a notable error in the design of the set.
Now, only when all is done, we start building the platform. A fairly simple structure with a large sticker to remember the great statistics. I am not sure if I will use it, I quite like the car by itself.
Verdict
All in all, I really like the set. The build doesn’t bring great challenges or technically interesting things, but it was never designed to do that. The set delivers spot on what it promises, an icon! It’s a great display set that reminds fans of a truly great car and great driver.
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