Formula 1 has never been afraid of spectacle. But at the 2025 British Grand Prix, they handed the podium to a different kind of champion: the brick.
Specifically, the Constructors’ Trophy presented to McLaren was accidentally damaged during the champagne-fueled post-race celebrations — not by driver Lando Norris, as some headlines mistakenly claimed, but by a McLaren team member. Cue the crunch of plastic, the collective gasp, and a scramble for the LEGO Group’s on-site master builders.
In a sport defined by engineering perfection, the most talked-about artifact was a pile of colourful plastic bricks. For collectors? That’s the point.
Why a plastic trophy is more valuable than you think:
These weren’t toys. They were the official, FIA-sanctioned awards for the British Grand Prix. Designed by the LEGO Group’s team in Hungary, each trophy took roughly 35 hours to build. And the fact that one snapped mid-celebration only elevated its legend.
Because this wasn’t the first time a Lego trophy cracked under pressure. It happened in 2023, too. Different trophy, same track, same fallout: universal media coverage, social media virality, and an unexpected collector moment born in real time.
This is what we at WAX call Narrative-Driven Memorabilia — items that carry value not because of what they’re made of, but what they represent. In recent months, we tracked a 29% quarter-over-quarter increase in insurance submissions tied to these culturally charged moments.
When breakage becomes the feature, not the flaw:
Traditionally, damage meant depreciation. But serious collectors — and smart insurers — know better. The McLaren trophy wasn’t devalued when it broke. It was immortalized.
On the WAX platform, our underwriting model is already evolving to reflect this shift. We flag certain “damage events” as potential value triggers — especially when they happen on live broadcasts, in high-profile cultural moments, and with repair handled by the original creators (in this case, LEGO’s own team).
Think of it like a misprinted trading card or a scratched race-used visor. It’s not pristine — it’s personal. That makes all the difference in both demand and insurance strategy.
What collectors need to understand:
This isn’t just about Lego. It’s about a broader change in how we assign value. Materials matter less than meaning. A 35-hour hand-assembled plastic trophy, cracked during victory celebrations and rebuilt by Lego artisans, now holds more cultural weight than many traditional awards ever will.
The Lego Constructors’ Trophy wasn’t just awarded. It was activated. And the McLaren team member who broke it? They didn’t ruin it. They made it legendary.
