The McLaren MCL39 42228 is in the library. It went in when it launched in March and it has been getting picked up regularly since then.
This is the actual 2025 McLaren Formula 1 car, not a generic Technic open-wheel model. LEGO worked with McLaren on the livery, so the papaya orange is properly represented. 1,675 pieces at £214.99. Working suspension at both ends, aeroactive bodywork, the V6 power unit visible through the top. The build takes around six hours at a decent pace.
The 2025 MCL39 in official livery
What makes this different to the 42141 McLaren Formula 1 set already in the library is the specificity. The 42141 is a great model but it is a Technic interpretation of a generic open-wheel car. The 42228 is the MCL39. The dimensions, the livery, the number 4 of Lando Norris. It is a different kind of build.
The suspension is where the complexity is. Push-rod at the rear, pull-rod at the front. Those are the actual suspension geometries used on the real car and LEGO has represented both correctly.
The 42141 stays in the library alongside it. Both are good builds and they build differently. The 42141 has the inertia-powered drivetrain, which is satisfying in a different way to the MCL39’s more detailed aeroactive bodywork.
If you follow F1 at all the MCL39 is probably the one to do this year. McLaren won the 2024 Constructors’ Championship with this car. Building the model and understanding the suspension geometry you see on TV is a different experience to a generic race car model.
What do you think of it? Has anyone done a comparison build with the 42141? Drop a comment on Facebook or Instagram and let me know which you preferred.
The part I care about is whether it earns build time, not just whether it photographs well in a press image. That is how I am judging this one for the library.
What do you think? Drop a comment on Facebook or Instagram. I read them, especially when someone thinks I have backed the wrong set.
The library is open. Pick your subscription.
Technic Fan gets you six kits a year at £17/month with free postage both ways. Master Builder steps it up with more frequent rotations and priority allocation. Both plans include a pre-paid return label, brick separator, and original building instructions.