Just like Formula One’s attitude to other forms of fan engagement before Liberty Media’s acquisition, licensing was often deemed surplus to requirements under the sport’s previous ownership.
Formula One’s ex-supremo Bernie Ecclestone infamously shunned younger fans in favour of the Rolex-purchasing elite, so a proper licensing strategy was far from a priority for the series.
But times have changed. While Lewis Hamilton may have his reservations about the money-driven world of Formula One, the seven-time champion can now find himself in Lego form – or at least the Mercedes car that he drove last season.
At this stage, licensing isn’t new for Formula One, which has deals in place with the likes of Puma, The Memento Group, and Playseat. Yet while these are collaborations that appear to target existing fans of the series, more recent partnerships with Lego and Hot Wheels feel different.
In many ways, Formula One is still adjusting to its newfound position in the public zeitgeist after decades of being considered a niche interest, but partnering with the world’s largest toy company will only continue to grow the mainstream relevance of the series.
The first range of Lego’s Formula One products includes replica cars for all ten teams, which feature liveries from the 2024 season and even Pirelli tyres. The Formula One-branded toys and sets have been designed to appeal to avid and casual fans alike, making this the ideal collaboration as the series grapples with the challenge of appealing to a broader audience.
While Formula One’s fanbase increased 12 per cent to 826.5 million in 2024, it clearly sees its licensing business as an opportunity to get its brand in front of even more people. And having tested the water with McLaren, Lego similarly spies an opportunity to capitalise on the growing fandom around the sport.
To hear more about the collaboration, BlackBook Motorsport sat down with Emily Jacobs, vice president of licensing for Lego Group, to explore the potential that the Danish toy company saw in Formula One and why the brand is a good vehicle for engaging the next generation.
Lego first partnered with McLaren in 2022 before expanding to a wider deal with the series itself for the 2025 season
What attracted you to a partnership with both F1 itself and a team in McLaren? How do you balance these deals?
We have an overarching agreement with Formula One which is great, because it means that we can activate in a very broad way across all the teams together and have real representation across the sport. [We can] drive that diversity, reach different cultures, talk to all the different drivers, be present at fanzone events.
But also by fostering special relationships with the teams as well, we can then work very specifically with the drivers too and actually tap into what each team represents. Sometimes it might be that they’re more geographically relevant to a certain region, or there’s different fandom for different drivers, so we can create that variety in our content and the way that we interact.
Will you get much engagement with the drivers through this deal? How important is it for the athletes to interact with your products?
The drivers love Lego, they often talk about that. They love playing with the Lego brand, so it’s nice that there’s something really authentic that we can tap into. You’ll see across sport a lot of the time, a lot of sportspeople will often share on their social media feeds that they’re building Lego sets to relax and chill out.
That’s something we did with Lando [Norris] in Melbourne [at the Australian Grand Prix]. We’ve created a new thing called ‘the Brick Break’, so we’re working with different drivers and giving them a different building project to do, which they’re really enjoying.
The athletes are really important to us because that’s where the fandom is, especially for the kids, that’s who they’re aspiring to. These days, the drivers have got amazing personalities, they’re so much more accessible. Shows like Drive to Survive make them so much more human and give that glimpse behind the curtain.
For us, to be able to work with them and help use them to inspire kids to play, that’s what we’re here for, that’s what we keep tapping into.
What role will this deal play in attracting the younger generation to Formula One?
When we first started talking, one of the things which really drew us together as a mission and as a partnership is that we could bring that next generation in. We’ve both got really dedicated fans: the Lego brand has an amazing, avid bunch of fans that love the brand – as does Formula One.
So from one perspective, we can fuse those together and absolutely we’re here to tap into fandom. We want to play within the pop culture space. The Lego brand itself is making a big mark within pop culture.
But at the other end of the scale, we’re the world’s biggest toy brand who are a leader in kids’ [toys] and in play. The role that we can [play with] Formula One in fostering that next generation, but also that family engagement at home in the brand, is super unique to what we do.
Formula One is constantly evolving, so how are you going to ensure your products have a long shelf life?
Working with a brand that is evolving at the pace that Formula One is, that’s exciting, that matches our values. We always want to deliver that newness so, of course, new liveries come out every year. What’s always a challenge is they confirm quite late in the day.
If you think about a two-year lead time on making a toy product, we have to refer back to last year’s [livery] in order to make that relevant. We’ll never be live because those liveries don’t get firmed up until five minutes before the season begins which, if somebody is [reading] and can do something about that, that would be wonderful!
Could this lend itself to a greater emphasis on historic cars?
Yes. We’ve just started in the last year within our adults portfolio and our icons [range] launching cars from history. So we launched a car with McLaren and [Ayrton] Senna last year. We’ve got our Nigel Mansell [Williams FW14B] car that released this year.
It’s amazing because, as popular as all the new things are, the icons are doing phenomenally well and have been in our best sellers list. We’re incredibly excited that we can celebrate the brand [and] bring that history and that heritage to a new generation of fans. But also, it’s something which those other fans that were there when those moments happened have really tapped into.
That comparison between avid and casual fans is really interesting. Are you able to track the different fans that engage with your products?
We can see that adults are enjoying these products as much as kids are. What’s really lovely is that we know that people buy Lego sets and they build them as a family together. They enjoy it and they share that love and that passion for the brand together.
It’s that family engagement which is really special and [makes] it all relevant. Avid fans, new fans, they’re all very much building with Lego.
We have different degrees of fandom as well. We’ve got AFOLs [Adult Fans of Lego] who have whole basements of Lego that build all these crazy creations and are super into the brand. We also have casual fans as well, and we embrace them all equally.
What’s great is that, when there is fandom for something like F1, a more casual fan can express that through Lego building and enjoy the experience.
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What is your mission with this collaboration and what legacy do you want to leave?
We want to bring more kids into the sport so we can have families enjoying F1 together, bring that into the home and make it as accessible as possible. Very few people as a proportion of the world actually go to races, so actually being able to build and play with Lego sets at home as a family makes sure fans can engage with the brand and the sport in a whole new way.
When we talk about legacies, it’s working with brands that are relevant, that both our fans love. And the biggest signal we’ve had is fans have been telling us they want F1 and Lego to work together. They want to have Lego sets that are F1 sets. As long as we’re being told that and have that pull from our fandom, we’ll keep doing that.
Is there a sense that Lego is the one introducing Formula One to new fans and markets?
Our coverage across the globe is unprecedented if you look at the brand space and specifically within the toy space. We are absolutely introducing the brand to new markets and bringing that experience in a very accessible way that only the Lego Group can do.
We feel a huge responsibility with that, but we’re also seeing that we’re bringing in the next generation. We launched a Lego Duplo set which is for two-year-olds, which was incredibly popular.
So we can see that not only are we doing great work in getting into the corners of the globe where races aren’t currently [hosted], but actually we’re able to bring in that next generation. And we’re also talking to all audiences as well – boys, girls equally – and we’re very diverse in the way that we communicate.
From a Lego perspective, what would constitute success from this partnership?
Our big measure is on bringing play to as many kids as possible and driving that accessibility to play. So for us, if Formula One and fandom of Formula One is a means to give access to play and spurs kids’ imaginations and enables them to learn through play, that’s where we’re winning.
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