I'll preface this with my daughter and I have 82 Speed Champion sets, going back to the start of the range (not all, mind you, but only about 5 sets or so away from having all of them). We have all of the F1 sets, including this now and the F1 Academy, so we definitely have a good feel for the sets as they've evolved over the years.
Now, I will say, this is not a terrible set. It definitely has a unique look, especially since the Audi livery is unique itself. Very clean looking overall. The design and build itself, though, felt rushed, considering they were under the gun to get it designed quickly and with more than likely multiple changes in livery design from Audi during the process. That's not terribly surprising, just disappointing.
That said, there are a few differences I'll point out that are interesting in comparison to last year's F1 cars:
1) the nose assembly is drastically different on the outer parts. I actually like this assembly better than last year's on the outer wings. I felt the odd flat corner piece with the flat one stud square on the ends felt a bit flimsy and didn't give it a dynamic feel like the car actually has. This design is solid in comparison and feels like it has substance.
2) The back wing is held on and structured drastically different, too, and I feel this is an improvement in the looks, as it gives the tail a much more detached and thin metal feel to it (like the actual spoiler is on the car).
3) The body sides around the cockpit are cleaner, and the assembly makes more sense than some of the previous cars, so this also felt like an improvement, although it did reduce the complexity quite a bit, so that reduces piece count.
4) The front suspension area is back to 2024 design. Not a huge fan of this, as it makes that area look far more boring than last year's cars. Now, this isn't Lego's fault, F1 went back to not having the sort of wing things over the front wheels like they had last year. While this is a negative, they're sticking with what the actual design is going to be, and that's actually a good thing, so overall a wash.
5) Less stickers overall - There were far fewer stickers than I was expecting (primarily located on the front wing), and most of the designs were printed on the piece, this was a welcome change over some of the F1 cars from last year (looking at you, BWT car!).
6) The driver minifig.... Oh dear, how plan and drab! Gray and white. The other driver minifigs, even if single colors, really stand out compared to their cars (again, with the exception of the BWT set). This just feels like they didn't have any guidance from Audi on what the suit would look like, went with as generic of a design as they could with the colors and the Audi logo, and Audi signed off on it not wanting to make any decision on it. Definitely no where near the top of driver minifigs, so definitely disappointing there.
I really feel had Lego had more time to actually put into the design of the car, it wouldn't feel as disappointing as it does. I mean, I don't regret buying it, and it fits in well with the other 18 F1 Lego cars I currently have from the line, and is still a VAST improvement over the early versions of them. Hopefully not releasing the Cadillac F1 car right after the livery announcement means they are going to wait until the Summer release of sets and hopefully get back to having the set feel like it's worth the new price point and come up with some new changes to assembly that will make it feel unique in a set that's all pretty much the same style of car.
Customer reviews for LEGO Speed Champions Audi Revolut F1 Team R26 Race Car, 216 pc. for