Behind the Scene: The Garage Next Door——A determined Underdog

Something More Than a Movie Moment

In a year when the roar of F1 engines filled theaters worldwide, a quieter, more personal race was being run on a designer's desk. It wasn't about replicating the glamour seen on screen, but about capturing the gritty, problem-solving heartbeat of a race team itself. This is the story behind the V25 F1 Racing Car—a story not of victory laps, but of the relentless pursuit of "what if."

 

Why This Car? It Was About the Spirit, Not the Trophy.

For designer Leon C, the choice of a car inspired by the Haas F1 Team was deliberate. In the glitzy paddock of Formula 1, Haas embodies a different, deeply American narrative: the determined underdog. It’s the story of a team that builds, tests, fails, and iterates with sheer tenacity. Leon wasn't drawn to creating a replica of the championship leader; he wanted to build a tribute to the effort. "It’s the grit that resonates," he noted. "The feeling that every single part is fought for." This model, NF10329, would be an ode to that engineering hustle.

The Smooth Start: A Fresh Ambition

Leon began with a clear rule for himself: don’t repeat the past. His previous F1 model, the AM24, was a solid foundation, but he wanted the V25 to feel like a leap forward. His starting point was an elegant solution: an upgraded "Hand of God" steering system, allowing the slender car to be precisely controlled from above. It was a clever, functional upgrade that set a confident tone. Early on, things felt promising—like a clean lap out of the pits.

The Inevitable Wall: When Elegance Meets Reality

The optimism met reality in the car’s brutal proportions. An F1 car is long, narrow, and leaves no room for error. Now, Leon had committed to packing it with features: the complex, angled four-layer front wing, the intricate steering, a removable engine cover, and his new passion project—a working DRS flap on the rear wing.

"The dream is adding features," Leon said, recalling the phase. "The reality is that they start arguing with each other over space." The chassis became a battlefield. Parts interfered; movements jammed. The DRS mechanism, a simple linkage in theory, became a spatial nightmare in practice. He’d solve one clearance issue only to discover another. The model was threatening to become a fragile collection of ideas rather than one cohesive machine.

The Solution: Not Genius, Just Grit

There was no single eureka moment. The solution was pure, unglamorous persistence. Leon entered what he calls "the millimeter game." He spent days meticulously planning the architecture, knowing that shifting one connection point by the smallest margin could unlock the space needed for another system to breathe. He prioritized durability, ensuring every moving part—especially the DRS and steering—would survive repeated interaction. It was less about dramatic innovation and more about careful, respectful negotiation between each component.

The Checkered Flag: Details That Tell the Story

The triumph of the V25 is in its cohesive whole. The 2634 pieces come together to form a model where the features don't just work—they work together. The steering is crisp, the DRS flap snaps open and shut with a satisfying click, and the entire body retains its sleek, purposeful silhouette.

But the soul is in the subtler details: the new, slick tires without a tread pattern, mirroring real qualifying tires, and the precisely printed logos on their curved, glossy surface—a small manufacturing feat in itself. These aren't flashy additions; they are quiet commitments to authenticity. They are the result of Leon and the team asking, "Can we get one step closer?"

 

The Resonance: Built to Race With Grit

The V25 F1 Racing Car is more than a display piece. It is an invitation into the garage. In the spirit of those recent films that showed us the passion behind the pit wall, this model celebrates the unseen work.

Building it, you experience the same challenges Leon did: the need for precision, the balance of strength and weight, the joy of making complex systems harmonize. Its slogan, "BUILT TO RACE WITH GRIT," doesn't just refer to the car it represents. It describes the process of its creation—and the experience of its assembly.

It reminds us that the most rewarding victories aren't always about being first. Sometimes, they're about the resilience to build something better, piece by hard-won piece. This is our tribute to that journey, to every innovator, tinkerer, and underdog who keeps pushing forward, long after the spotlight has moved on.