The Williams F1Racer is hands down the best looking F1 super car in the LEGO line. It sports an unmistakable frame profile with lots of nice details such as realistic suspension, huge tires with metallic-looking rims, big engine, exhaust tubes, cool front and rear spoilers. The color scheme is also beautiful and the stickers add a whole new level of realism (although, I hear they disintegrate within a year or two). The model is huge too.

The race-car style rudder in the cockpit controls the steering of the front wheels. Unfortunately, there is no "hand of god" control on the car, so it's nearly impossible to drive the car around. Another function in this model is the engine hood which pops open with the press of a lever in the middle of the car. Two pneumatic spring-loaded dampeners ensure tha the hatch opens smoothly on its own after the lever is engaged, which looks cool. Opening the hood reveals a beautiful and very detailed V10 engine that is cooler than any I have seen in Technic.

An interesting aspect of this car is the fact that it was produced during a transitional period for Technic, which is evident in the mix of studded and studless beams used. The body panels in the model are only used in models from this short-lived time period soon to be replaced by the current smooth panels.

The build is quite complex and time-taking, but nothing that a seasoned Technic builder can't handle. The flexible tubes mounting can get a bit tricky at times. Also, one needs to pay close attention to the two kinds of half-pins used in the build so as not to mix them up (they look almost identical on the instruction pages). The instruction booklet features the whopping page count of 126, which is quite serious, considering that this is the older style of instructions that often times use 20 parts per step.

The completed model looks fantastic, but does not feel rock solid (compared to the indestructible 8880. One has to be very careful about picking up the car in the right spots so that it does not brake off. The playability is not great either with the lack of convenient and responsive steering. Clearly, the intent of this car is to be a first-class display model with only minimal pretense of being a toy.

The Williams F1 is extremely hard to find and can end up costing a small fortune to get. But if you are a model or F1 fan, it is indeed worth every dollar spent. However, if you are looking for a more functional/playable/solid model that won't break the bank, you should take a look at 42000 which is a very reasonable modern Technic F1 super-car.

What a lovely thing this is... in 2002, Williams could still remember winning F1 Championships and this model was a winner too.

Building it isn't too difficult for anyone used to doing any of the larger Technic sets, but it's still quite an intricate thing so give yourself plenty of time.

Closely related to the McLaren-like 8458 Silver Champion, this managed to improve the appearance of that already very nice model, if not it's mechanical aspects. There was nothing very much wrong with these, but both models are not without niggles...

Engine: Blue pistons anyone ? That detail may not be realistic but the rest of it is a feast for the eyes, festooned with artfully placed exhaust tubing and oil coolers and radiators and whatnot. With the standard gearing it turns very slowly when the car is pushed and makes no noise at all. Never mind, just remember to gee it up early on in the build (a 24 tooth crownwheel acting on a little pinion will JUST clear the suspension assembly to give it a 3:1 axle ratio) and you'll at least be able to hear it. And those blue pistons (unique to this set ?) do give it a further lift.

Steering: This works pretty well from the correctly-shaped steering wheel. However, that wheel's very authentic shape does make it awkward to manipulate. A 'Hand of God' device would have been welcome. That said, as this model is leaning more towards being a display object than a toy this is an understandable omission. It does leave one wondering how Lewis and Co. cope, though...

Suspension: A superb system, rarely bettered since. Those long wishbone arm pieces prove a godsend, allowing a suitably 'fragile' appearance while being plenty strong enough in practice. The pushrod arrangement for the springs is very cleverly contrived as well, making me suspect that this was designed by a very knowledgeable F1 fan. Hats off for that one. The only sticking point concerns the amount of friction caused by joints hinging on those long black pins instead of looser grey ones. This only affects the front (there's more room for a slightly different arrangement at the back), But it does mean that the front is slow to bounce back when compressed. For sure, it is only a small problem... as they say in F1 circles.

Body: Even more handsome than the Silver Champion, partly because of the blue and white, but mostly because the panels' design is less fussy giving this car a cleaner appearance. Also, a little more attention was paid to filling in gaps and details like the design of the rear wing. What with that smoothly lifting engine cover this aspect is a great success. Looks a little naked without the stickers, though and boy are there a lot of them! As long as they're applied carefully it'll look great, however, I question the need to spread one across TWELVE large tiles on the rear wing.

Overall, what we have here is a beautiful, reasonably accurate and very nicely detailed (and HUGE!) display model that retains enough technical interest to engage both the engineer and the aesthete. The F1 fan in your life will love it.

After getting back into Lego again through my son, and first bought the 1:10 Ferrari brick-style F1, I wanted something of the new Technic style Lego.

The ultimate I found out there was this one, and after some searching I bought it second hand at a reasonable price.

I love everything about (being a F1 fan as well):

• the build takes long and is quite complex
• the looks are awesome
• the engine is great
• the suspension
• the steering
• the size!!

I also got the 1:8 Ferrari second hand, but that's nowhere near this Williams, mainly because of the looks, as well as a Williams lego set is a bit more rare than a Ferrari... ANd I guess I just like the ld style Lego bricks, of which there is a fair amount in this Williams still.

This is an awesome set. I recieved it for chrismas in tradition from my grandpapy in germany (a set every year even though i'm 26.) I just wanted to add to the other reviews that the suspention is an awesome example of lego design. Ok well maybe it is Williams design but in any case this set was awesome to build and looks great. There is little or no room for an engine so i built a motorized dynamometer that spins up the engine to such a speed that it poped out of place. A few blocks later it really winds up and sings. Super!

This is a very special model for Lego-Racing fanatics. It´s a rare (at least here in Mexico) awesome model which has a lot of mechanic details from a real car. The size is amazing, 65 cm! And it looks amazing when it is finished. I spent 8 hours getting all together and I´m happy with the results.