LEGO goes all in on F1, adds sponsorship of F1 Academy team

LEGO is reimagining how consumers participate in motorsport, brick by brick.

In 2025, LEGO began a partnership with Formula 1 to bring officially licensed sets to retail stores around the world, bringing an immersive experience to races around the world. Nearly a year after its launch, the collaboration has strengthened fan engagement for both brands, boosted sales of LEGO products, and expanded the toy company and racing organization’s demographic reach.

In August, Lego CEO Niels Christiansen touted the company’s F1 sets as one of the innovations that drove record revenue and operating profit in the first half of the year. The privately held company reported sales of 34.6 billion Danish kroner ($5.4 billion) in the first half of 2025, up 12% year-on-year.

“We’re seeing a huge increase in our fan base,” Julia Goldin, LEGO’s chief product and marketing officer, told CNBC. “In terms of fandom, it’s the biggest motorsport right now. … We felt like we could really leverage that and offer something very unique.”

With F1, Lego is not only leveraging existing fandom, but expanding it, bringing underserved populations into the world of racing and acquiring new customers.

“Lego has a reputation for identifying the right trends to be a part of, and motorsport has really taken off in recent years,” said Toy Book Editor-in-Chief James Zahn.

“As we have seen, F1 has just become a cultural behemoth that attracts audiences who are not typical motorsport fans,” he said. It seems to transcend age and hobbies.

ESPN, which broadcast the 2025 F1 season in the United States, reported record viewership for the race. of disneyThe sports network, which is owned by , averaged 1.3 million viewers across its stations and platforms through most of the racing calendar. The figure surpassed the previous record of 1.21 million viewers, set in 2022, and was up from just 554,000 viewers in 2018, the first year of ESPN’s broadcast deal with F1.

Next year, US broadcast rights will be apple TV follows the success of the Apple-distributed “F1: The Movie,” which was released in theaters in June.

Lego has created a gateway to the brand for newcomers as it expands its product catalog with the introduction of a meticulously designed F1 car brick set with team-accurate livery.

“At the heart of it was understanding the passion points of our viewers,” Goldin said. “When we chose to partner, we could see ourselves doing something unique that would provide real value…We felt there was a real opportunity to provide an experience that they would really love.”

The F1 portfolio included products from the Lego Duplo range for preschoolers, traditional sets for casual builders, and Lego Technic sets for more advanced builders.

Lego also participated in F1 races during the season, hosting in-person activations that included a functioning, life-sized F1 car and creating trophies out of bricks for podium finishers at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

At the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November, the top three drivers were chauffeured to the media area after the race in a life-sized pink Lego Cadillac, named after the Cadillac F1 team that will join the grid in 2026.

The 2025 season is over and LEGO is already preparing for next year.

“Lego is one of our dream partners,” said Susie Wolff, managing director of F1 Academy, an all-female racing league under the broader F1 umbrella.

“When they joined F1, I contacted Giulia immediately. [Goldin], [chief product and marketing officer]”Listen, why don’t we do something together with the F1 Academy?” Wolff told CNBC. “There’s so much synergy between what they’re trying to do and our main mission.”

The F1 Academy held its first season in 2023. The division was established to address the lack of female drivers in the F1 series and aims to develop young female drivers and prepare them for higher levels of competition.

“We’re trying to break down the preconception that motorsports is a male-dominated environment,” Wolff said, noting that Lego is similarly making strides to promote inclusivity with its brick sets.

As part of the ongoing relationship between the two brands, Lego has signed on as team sponsor of the F1 Academy Car starting in 2026. At the wheel is 20-year-old Dutch driver Esmie Kosterman.

Lego’s Goldin said the partnership with F1 Academy is an extension of their existing racing partnership, but “they’re doing it in a unique way because they’re partnering to actually support life-size cars and drivers.”

“This is a very important element to attract more attention and emphasize the authenticity and credibility of women participating in motorsport, and what is important is that their parents understand the opportunity. [and] They could be involved in sports,” Goldin said.

Zahn, from The Toy Book, described Lego’s working relationship with F1, and in particular the F1 Academy, as “the perfect partnership”.

”[The] Female motorsport fans have always existed, but they weren’t necessarily embraced on the consumer product side. ” he said.

Both Wolff and Goldin pointed out that one of the fastest growing segments of the F1 fan base is women.

“We’re capitalizing on exactly this fandom trend, and we’re also adding value to our partners,” Goldin said. “Our data shows that not only are we drawing more F1 fans into the LEGO brand, but vice versa. More fans of the LEGO brand are now fans of F1.”