It's finally happening: after over two decades, Mattel is making a new current-gen Formula One Car in the Hot Wheels line, and they're kicking off the partnership with a (pricey) bang.
Announced yesterday, Mattel and F1 confirmed that they are entering "a new global licensing partnership," which will see the toy company create a full range of products starting in 2025.
In a press release, F1 stated that the upcoming range "will feature cars from F1 Teams and include products designed to connect with F1’s growing young audience, as well as items that will appeal to adult collectors." This marks the beginning of a massive promotional push, including "fan-focused activations and retail opportunities" during select Grand Prix weekends in next year’s season. Simply put: expect plenty of Hot Wheels versions of the 2022-2025 spec machines, as seen in the gallery below.
What you're looking at is the Mattel Creations metal-on-metal version of the casting Hot Wheels will likely use for the mainline. It also comes with a new gimmick from Mattel at this scale: swappable Real Riders.
The set includes three types of Pirelli slick tyres—hard (white ring), medium (yellow ring), and soft (red rings)—all of which fit onto the free-wheeling axles. There's also a tyre rack to store the unused wheels.
Both Mattel and F1 view this partnership as a significant milestone. To hear Emily Prazer, Chief Commercial Officer of Formula 1, put it in the official blurb: "It’s more than just a partnership; it’s a celebration of speed, creativity and innovation that will bring fans a new way to engage with the sport.” As for Roberto Stanichi, Executive VP for the blue-card brand and Head of Vehicles and Building Sets at Mattel, he reckons that this deal "allows kids to replicate the thrill of F1 racing where they can drive like the pros and engages with our loyal communities on a global scale," stressing the connections between F1 fans and those who love collecting and racing these little toys.
And it's not like the idea is without precedent.
Hot Wheels has done F1 cars before, with the GP-2001/GP-2009 casting being a workhorse model during the V10 era, used from 1999 to 2009. It only ever saw one update to the GP-2006 model to reflect the screamer V8 era. There have been other open-wheel racers since then, but only two have managed to get close to the eras they were meant to represent.
What's particularly notable about the new 2025-spec tooling is the placement of the front wing — it's much lower than the older F1 cars. This is a big improvement over the previous versions, which had raised wings to clear loops. However, this likely means the car won’t be usable on Hot Wheels’ signature orange track.
Reactions online have been surprisingly mixed, at least for this debuting premium release. Redditors in threads on both r/formula1 and r/HotWheels share nuanced but cautious takes because of the steep US$25 price tag and 9-month gap from pre-order to mailing. TMostof F1 Twitter is hyped, while Instagram vacillates between people taking a proper dump on it and speculation that this may push Ferrari to finally return to Hot Wheels after their licensing with Mattel ended in 2015. Despite the mixed reactions, the news has been largely welcomed, especially since it’s been over 15 years since the last themed F1 set.
Admittedly, US$25 is a lot for a casting that has nowhere near the detail seen in MiniGT’s, Tarmac Works’ or Sparky’s offerings that are priced in the same strike zone as Mattel’s creation. What’s worse is that it doesn't ship to the Philippines, so I can’t even buy it despite having the means to do so. Nevertheless, I still see this as a win for both collectors and kids. Distribution for these premium castings is far more limited, and once the mainline version of Hot Wheels' casting ships, it will still provide a more accessible way to get a halo-era F1 car into more hands.
Make no mistake: this is going to make a lasting impact on the hobby. Expect to see mods, repaints and other custom work, and a new generation of kids swooshing their toys at their screens or in the stands as the real-life cars blur past.
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