LEGO’s most controversial partner has made its return

The upcoming release of LEGO Icons 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna also means the return of one of the LEGO Group’s most controversial partners.

March 1 is a good month for racing fans, with a number of Formula 1 and racing-focused sets making their debut across LEGO Icons, Technic, and Speed Champions. That includes 10330 McLaren MP4/4 & Ayrton Senna, a homage to iconic driver Ayrton Senna.

Included in the set alongside all the usual trappings of a Formula 1 car and driver is a somewhat surprising addition: Shell logo stickers. Absent for nearly 10 years, this is the first time in a long time that we’ve seen the yellow and red logo that used to be relatively common in LEGO car sets. The inclusion of the branding isn’t highlighted in the set’s description in the online LEGO store, but it’s present in not just one but seemingly three different places.

We’re not commenting on whether this is right or wrong – but either way you fall, it’s certainly interesting. Why now? Why in this set? In terms of depicting a Formula 1 set, it’s certainly accurate for Shell to appear on the branding of Senna’s MP4/4 – but the set doesn’t include all the brands that were present on the real-life car, so dedication to authenticity doesn’t seem to wholly account for it.

Looking back at the rocky relationship and why it came to an end, Brick Fanatics‘ Matt tracks the history of the LEGO Group’s partnership with Shell back to its early days, through its ignoble end, and up to the present-day return.

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