The LEGO Group has been discussing its ongoing partnership with Formula 1 and the challenge of engaging with the next generation of motorsport fans.
Once considered a niche sport aimed at more affluent fans, Formula 1 has been branching out in recent years, attempting to bring in a wider, younger and more diverse target audience. As the motorsport celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2025, a long-term partnership with the LEGO Group has begun bearing fruit, with multiple racing models having already arrived over the past few months.
In a new interview with BlackBook MotorSport, Emily Jacobs, vice president of licensing for the LEGO Group has been talking about the company’s Formula 1 collaboration, revealing how sets can draw in a new generation of casual fans and appeal to legacy collectors too.
“We have an overarching agreement with Formula 1 which is great,” explained Emily “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.”
When it comes to drivers, it’s clear that many of the Formula 1 team are LEGO fans themselves and are actively involved with promoting the partnership between the two brands.
“The drivers love LEGO, they often talk about that," said Emily. "They love playing with LEGO, 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.”
A key goal of the LEGO and Formula 1 partnership is its ability to bring a new audience into the sport through a wide range of different models, but also to offer up sets that appeal to long-term fans.
“We launched a car with McLaren and [Ayrton] Senna last year and we’ve got our Nigel Mansell [Williams FW14B] car that released this year," Emily said. "We’re incredibly excited that we can 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.
For us, if Formula 1 and fandom of Formula 1 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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