Like most Formula 1 teams, Alpine’s connections to the race championship can be traced back to the late ’60s, although its modern-day counterpart first raced in the early ’80s. The team is closely connected to the French automotive brand Renault, with Alpine being the name of Renault’s sports car range. The team has been racing as BWT Alpine since 2021 but has yet to win any championship. With only a couple more of the LEGO® Speed Champions F1 sets to take a look at, here’s what the BWT Alpine set has to offer.
Product Details
Set Name: BWT Alpine F1® Team A524 Race Car | Set Number: 77248 | Pieces: 258 | Theme: Speed Champions
Number of Bags: Bags x 6 | Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Stickers: sheet x 1 | Characters: BWT Alpine Driver
RRP: £22.99/$26.99/26.99€/39.99AUD/34.99CAD
Availability: LEGO Stores & LEGO Online from March 1st
Speed Champions has helped to expand the LEGO Group’s connection with several car brands, but this is the first time there’s been a Renault-connected set since the early ’90s. The Alpine team in its current form has been racing since 2021, and the 2024 livery is the inspiration for this set. The light blue, pink and black colour scheme is one of the most unusual,l but it results in a striking car.
The Alpine car has some of the trickiest stickers to apply. This is due to a mix of the sticker’s shape and size, along with the elements and surfaces they are applied to. A couple of elements are finished with the textured surface, which makes applying stickers a little more difficult as they slip around more until they are firmly stuck down. This can cause stickers to be misaligned. There are also a couple of elements which require some quite small stickers. The same issue with the textured surface also doubles the awkwardness of placing these smaller stickers. However, they do look great once applied.
This particular set has quite a few unique details. They are similar to some of the other cars in the range but implemented differently. Along the edge of the sides of the car are a couple of fins. Instead of being connected by minifigure back brackets, they are mounted on a series of 1×1 curve-backed headlight bricks.
The best feature of the car is the body section behind where the driver sits. It’s rather blocky, mostly being crafted from plates and tiles. But it looks very cool, especially with how the sloped engine cover is nearly slotted over it. This is another set that uses a ‘bar’ element to top the engine cover, which can easily become misaligned and look odd when it does.
Formula 1 is a male-centric sport, but that’s not the case when it comes to their minifigure counterparts. This is another set to feature a female driver. As with all the F1 driver minifigures, they are rather plain. The Alpine driver is a little more colourful compared to others, but the race suit still feels as if it’s lacking something. I understand the choice not to include sponsor logos, as they would be extremely small and eligible. But the team logo could have been popped on the back of the torso. The new helmets continue to offer something unique, with Alpine’s blue and pink colours offering a striking pairing.
At this point, I sound like a broken record, but I’m still amazed by just how different the build experience of each F1 is. I know the actual cars have their own quirks and features, but even then, they are quite similar. Yet each of Speed Champions cars offers something unique beyond just different colours and stickers. Despite the garish colour scheme, this is my favourite car. I love the shape of the section behind the driver and how the sloping engine canopy is built. This and all of the other LEGO Speed Champions F1 sets are released on March 1st.
Read other LEGO Speed Champions F1 Reviews: Ferrari SF-24| Oracle Red Bull | Mercedes-AMG | Aston Martin AMR24 | VCARB 01 | KICK Sauber
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The LEGO Group provided this set to BricksFanz.com for review purposes. The thoughts expressed in this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group or F1. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion.
