Icons

McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna

The car that won 15 of 16 races, and the driver who made it legend, sitting on your shelf.

Brick Rated Score

4.2/5

Set 10330 · 2024

Pieces693

Minifigs1

Year2024

Set number10330

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

This is the first LEGO Icons car to come with a minifigure in the box, and honestly, that little Senna figure is what makes the whole thing sing.

The MP4/4 itself is a clean, gorgeous piece of 1988 Formula 1 history that displays beautifully in that papaya and red livery. It has real flaws, the wheels and the nose printing chief among them, but if you love this car or this driver you will forgive them fast. For a first System F1 car, LEGO got most of the important things right.

Best for: F1 fans and Senna devotees who want a display piece with soul, not a fiddle-toy

The full review

What it is

The MP4/4 is one of those cars that even people who don't follow Formula 1 recognise, and seeing it in LEGO form did something to me. It's the 1988 machine, the one Ayrton Senna drove to his first world championship, rendered in that unmistakable papaya orange and red. At 693 pieces it's on the smaller side for an Icons vehicle, measuring about 32cm long, but it carries itself like something bigger. What got me first was the minifigure. This is the first LEGO Icons car to actually come with a little figure in the box, and that Senna fig, with his printed racing overalls and that gorgeous yellow-and-green helmet, turns a nice model into a genuine tribute. There's a separate podium stand for him too, which is a lovely touch.

The catch

I'll be straight with you about the caveats, because reviewers were united on them and they're fair. The rear tyres on the real car were much wider than the fronts, and here all four wheels are identical. Once you know it, you can't unsee it. The other niggle is the printing on the nose: that white swoosh over the red comes out looking faintly pink, and it leaves an awkward gap of bare red at the bottom that doesn't match the sharp point of the original. LEGO still struggles with light print on dark solid colours. Add in a build that experienced hands will finish in around two to two-and-a-half hours, and at 79.99 in dollars, pounds or euros you're paying a fair bit for something fairly brief.

Who it's for

So here's how I'd call it. If you love this car, or you love Senna, this belongs on your shelf and the small flaws will melt away the moment it's built and lit. It's a proper display piece with real heart, especially with that figure standing proud beside it. If you're chasing a long, meaty, technical build to lose an evening in, though, this isn't quite that, and the wheel and printing issues might nag at the part of your brain that loves accuracy. Go in for the story and the silhouette, not the piece count.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building this one is a pleasant, unfussy couple of hours. It never gets genuinely difficult, but there are lovely pockets of detail work that reward you, picking out the cockpit and the engine bay in particular. The engine is entirely brick-built with plenty of intricate greebling, and it looks marvellous tucked in there. The steering actually works too: the steering rods sit neatly between the suspension arms and connect through to the wheel, so you can turn the fronts, though there's a bit of play in it. It's a smooth, satisfying assembly rather than a puzzle.

The headline new elements are four brand-new sleek tyres made specifically for this car, and they look the part even if they're all sized the same. There's a scattering of printed parts carrying authentic Shell and McLaren logos, plus a sticker sheet for the rest of the branding. The Senna minifigure is the real parts treasure: a unique printed head that captures his cheekbones, a helmet in that famous yellow-and-green, and printed overalls on both torso and legs. For 693 pieces you're paying around 11.5 cents each, which is on the steep side, so a chunk of what you're buying here is that livery, those tyres and that figure rather than raw brick volume.

Fun facts

01The real McLaren MP4/4 won 15 of the 16 races in the 1988 Formula 1 season, one of the most dominant campaigns in the sport's history, and Senna took his first of three world titles that year.
02This is the first LEGO Icons car ever to include a minifigure inside the box, breaking with the theme's usual figure-free tradition.
03The set includes four exclusive new tyre moulds created specifically for this model.
04Its 1988 teammate pairing of Senna and Alain Prost became one of the fiercest rivalries in racing history, and together they won the Constructors' Championship with more than triple their nearest rival's points.