We built LEGO Speed Champions Ferrari SF-24 F1 Race Car - it's the perfect way to get kids involved this racing season
The Formula 1 season is well underway and drama is unfolding almost weekly on racetracks around the world. But for car-mad young people, there is one way to get a taste for building - and racing - your own super-fast vehicle, by building it with LEGO.
The legendary toy maker has teamed up with a number of legendary racing teams to produce special sets featuring replicas of the cars on our screens.
Our young racing fan is also a LEGO devotee, loving nothing more than settling in with a new box of pieces, and the manual that will turn it into something he can play with - and if it has wheels, all the better.
So it was with great excitement we got to work on our replica straight out of the racing record books - a Ferrari.
The set we tried was a LEGO Speed Champions Ferrari SF-24 F1 Race Car, which is suitable for children aged 10 and above, featuring 275 pieces, so for young model makers, it is challenging enough, but not too challenging.
As usual with LEGO sets, the instructions are excellent, with clear stages of build detailed brilliantly by whoever sits down and gets these things together (they deserve a medal). And the attention to detail the makers at LEGO have is incredible - they look just like the real thing.
The instructions are so clear, you can almost disappear while your little one gets on with the job. That, however, would mean missing out on the consistent joy of LEGO - watching the final creation emerge from a seemingly random set of blocks and constructions.
The Ferrari is no different. It's not clear from the outset what you are building and where it will end up, but as with all LEGO - trust the process and you will be rewarded!
Stickers are easily applied, and well described, though this is the only place I'd say a younger child might want a bit of supervision, if not help, as it would be a travesty if a single mis-placed sticker ruined the overall look of the final model.
No such problems with our budding Lewis Hamilton, however, who simply sat focussed on his project for well over an hour, maybe two, and loved every minute of it.
As we got closer to completion, and the vehicle itself started to take shape, the excitement was palpable. We were on the starting grid, ready for the green light to get playing...
And then, it was done, the joys of flying along, complete with safety features and a helmet for our Hamilton, of course. Then, and only then, is it permitted for parent and young LEGO legend of the track to make their preferred Formula 1 car noise.
This is a great way to not only give your children a car-focussed challenge, always improving fine motor skills and logic, but to give them a project that ends in an instantly-satisfying play.
The only problem is, you'll want all of the formula 1 sets to complete your kitchen-table grid (around 10 teams are available).
But for now: "The lights are out! GO! GO! GO!" Meeeeeeeeyaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwnnn.
:: LEGO Formula 1 Speed Champions sets are available from lego.com, priced at £22.99.