LEGO F1 trophy designer watched past ceremonies to make sure his designs would survive

An interview with Samuel Liltorp Johnson, designer of the Formula 1 LEGO trophies, has explained his research process in making the brick-built cups.

In the latest collaboration between the LEGO Group and Formula 1, the toy company provided brick-built trophies to give to the top three point scorers in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, debuting four trophies (with one for the constructors as well) on July 6. First place was made out of golden bricks, second and third places out of white, and the constructors in black.

The quartet were the work of LEGO designer Samuel Liltorp Johnson, who spoke to the Athletic about what went into the LEGO trophies. Samuel has also worked on various LEGO City, NINJAGO, and Ideas sets, to name but a few themes, as well as LEGO Icons 10338 Bumblebee.

For these trophies, Samuel worked on the designs digitally at first, with a file made up of a whopping 20,000 LEGO pieces to finetune the look. This would eventually be condensed down into a physical set of 2,717 bricks, weighing over two kilos and standing 23 inches tall.

When looking at the real trophies, Samuel particularly wanted to capture the floral patterns engraved on the sides, turning to LEGO flowers to do so. The handles are made out of curved elements typically used for palm trees or dinosaur tails, while he added the collectible Formula 1 cars for some extra LEGO flair.

One consideration that Samuel had to take into account, which isn't a concern for your average LEGO set, is the behaviour of the drivers. He watched videos of Formula 1 podium ceremonies to see what might happen to the trophies on stage.

“Lewis Hamilton holds it like a baby and George Russell punches it to the sky,” he said. One moment that piqued his attention in particular was McLaren driver Lando Norris’s champagne bottle smash in Hungary in 2023, which knocked Red Bull's Max Verstappen’s porcelain winner’s trophy and led to some expensive damage. “[The LEGO trophies are] glued to ensure it doesn’t fall apart."

Samuel was wise to take that precaution, with Norris going on to claim the first-place LEGO trophy after winning his first at-home Grand Prix at Silverstone. The LEGO designer knew his work would be part of a big moment, made especially more apparent with the reaction to the LEGO Formula 1 Drivers' Parade in Miami earlier this year.

"I was in the middle of making them, and that was a ‘no pressure’ moment," he said. "Now they’ve made this global moment and maybe I have to compete with that. These cars are massive. It was so cool.

"That made me really excited, because you could see how happy the drivers were. It’s LEGO directly impacting their enjoyment of those moments."

“What am I supposed to do now?” he continued. “Everything’s going to be boring after this, right? I feel like I can really feel when something’s once in a lifetime. If I don’t invest my whole self into this, when am I ever going to get that chance again?

“So that’s what I’ve done. I’ve really just tried to give myself to this and just give it what it deserves.”

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