Minichamps 1:43 McLaren MCL35M – Lando Norris, Pole Position Russian GP 2021 Art. 537215904

A 1:43 model of the McLaren MCL35M as raced by Lando Norris at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, from which he took the first pole position of his career. Limited to 624 pieces worldwide. Resin, on a display base with a clear case and official McLaren packaging.

A pole-position model exists because the race went wrong

Minichamps normally makes models of winners. Pole-position versions are a separate, smaller category, and they get produced when something about the qualifying result matters more than the race result.

At Sochi in 2021, Norris qualified first in changing conditions on a drying track, at 21, in a McLaren — the team's first pole since 2012. He then led 51 laps of the Grand Prix and was six laps from winning it.

Rain arrived. McLaren offered him intermediate tyres; he chose to stay out on slicks, and the team went with his call. He slid off at turn thirteen on the next lap and finished seventh.

It is one of the more painful near-misses of the modern era, and he was open afterwards that the decision had been his. His first Grand Prix victory did not come until Miami in 2024, three years later.

So the model that exists is of the pole — the part of that weekend that went right.

The MCL35M

The M stands for Mercedes. McLaren switched from Renault engines for 2021 and had to redesign the rear of the car to take a different power unit, under regulations that otherwise froze development. It was a considerable engineering undertaking for one season's gain.

In the range

Set 537215104 is Norris's MCL35M from the French Grand Prix earlier that year.

Specifications

Scale: 1:43 · Limited to 624 pieces worldwide · Resin · Display base, clear case, official McLaren packaging
Model dimensions: approx. 10 × 4 × 4 cm