The 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, held on 18–19 November at the temporary street circuit along the Las Vegas Strip, was the penultimate round of the season — and only the second time Formula 1 had raced in Las Vegas in the modern era. Spark Model's 1:43 scale model captures Lando Norris's McLaren MCL60 No. 4 at that specific event, in the team's standard papaya orange and black livery rendered in resin with photo-etched metal detail parts.
McLaren MCL60: 60 Years in the Making
The MCL60 was McLaren's 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship challenger, its designation directly referencing the team's 60th anniversary in motorsport. Built to the ground-effect aerodynamic regulations introduced in 2022, the car was powered by the Mercedes-AMG HPP M14 E Performance unit — a 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged hybrid combining internal combustion, MGU-H and MGU-K components for a combined output of around 1000 bhp. The switch to Mercedes power marked a significant technical partnership for the Woking outfit, and the MCL60 delivered McLaren's most competitive season in years.
Las Vegas, 1982 to 2023: Four Decades Between Laps
Formula 1 last visited Las Vegas in 1982 for the Caesars Palace Grand Prix. The 2023 edition, Round 21 of 22 on the calendar, brought the circus back to Nevada with a brand-new layout threading through the iconic Strip. The night-race format proved equally unforgiving for Norris: starting from sixth on the grid, he was involved in a first-lap collision with George Russell's Mercedes, sustaining damage that effectively ended any prospect of a points finish. A subsequent time penalty left him classified outside the top fifteen.
Spark Model 1:43 Scale Model: Resin Precision for F1 Collectors
Produced by Spark Model, this 1:43 scale model is built in resin with photo-etched metal components covering fine aerodynamic elements such as front wing endplates and mirror stalks — details that define the quality benchmark in this scale for modern Formula 1 replicas. The MCL60's papaya orange livery is reproduced across the bodywork, including the black contrast zones that defined the car's visual identity throughout the 2023 season. No opening parts are featured, which is standard for Spark's 1:43 F1 range.
In the Display Cabinet: Context and Companions
This model fits naturally within a McLaren 2023 season collection, pairing directly with the MCL60 No. 81 of Oscar Piastri from the same Las Vegas event. Fans of Norris's 2023 trajectory — in which he scored multiple podiums across the season — will find it a meaningful counterpart to the more triumphant rounds in the calendar. The Las Vegas livery, striking under artificial floodlighting, also makes a strong visual anchor alongside models from the MCL35M era or the 2024 MCL38. For collectors focused on the history of F1 street circuits, the connection to the 1981–1982 Caesars Palace venue adds a further layer of context.
