If you haven’t already heard, Alfa Romeo has made its final pit stop in Formula 1 after the 2023 season. The team officially stepped out of the race after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November 2023. But fear not Sauber fans! Stake has taken over the reins as the sole title partner for 2024, and the team is now racing under the name Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber. Drivers Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas are still behind the wheel, ready to tear up the tracks.
To celebrate this rebrand—and the return of the Formula 1 Grand Prix to China—CaDA has revved up the excitement with a 1:24 scale brick-built model of the 2024 KICK Sauber F1 race car. The CaDA KICK Sauber F1 Team C44 (C55032W) is a miniature replica of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship race car. And while it may look familiar, CaDA has given it a tune-up from last year’s Alfa Romeo model.
First off, this set is focused on Zhou, but in a fun twist, you can swap out the decals for Valtteri Bottas, depending on who’s your favorite speedster. Who doesn’t love options, right? But that’s not even the best part. This set includes newly molded parts, like a specially crafted piece for the Halo safety system, cranking the realism up a notch. No more bending hoses and awkward fits—this is the real deal (in brick form, anyway). The 1:24 Alfa Romeo model uses a pneumatic T piece and a flex hose to recreate the Halo.
And while we’re talking upgrades, the side mirrors have finally made an appearance—yes, actual mirrors! OK. They are not actual mirrors but at least there is a representation of side mirrors that isn’t made of spoon elements or worse, not there at all like the last year’s 1:25 version of the Alfa model. Side-eye to you, old model.
Plus, CaDA has officially one-upped LEGO’s Speed Champions 2023 McLaren Formula 1 set. In addition to sporting a snazzy molded steering wheel complete with printed graphics, this new 1:24 brick-built F1 car model is rocking different-sized tires for the front and back! The back slicks are wider—as they should like on the actual Formula 1 race cars. I’m not saying this is a masterpiece, but, yeah, it’s pretty close.
The set includes 314 pieces and once assembled, the model measures 22 cm long, 8.5 cm wide, and 4.3 cm tall. And yes, you bet I’m going to snag this one and give it a proper review. Stay tuned! But for those who are already itching to build, you can grab this plastic brick beauty from CaDA’s official webstore for just US$26.99.
Images: WeChat (咔搭CaDA) [CH].