Just after I posted about Lego, by complete coincidence, Mama_Rah bought me some "not-Lego" and it turned out to be an F1 Car. Having already got an official Lego F1 Mercedes it means that I am in a position to make a direct comparison - especially now assembled. I am going to refer to the red car (not Lego) and the black car (Lego) for ease and simplicity
Superficially, the first thing that is obvious is that the red car is a little bit bigger and of course the black car has "George" and their is a conspicuous absence of a mini-figure on the red one. You might recall that I mentioned that Lego still own the patent and copyright for mini figures.
When looking a bit closer the first thing that is obviously noticeable is that the red on the red car (sorry about that!) seems a bit dull and frankly "cheap",and while this is evident all over the car it is most obvious on the halo.
Generally, the pieces on both generally snapped together well. Both cars were a bit fiddly to construct, but this was more the case with the red one. The cockpit was assembled separately before being added and it was a very tight fit and quite challenging to fit without breaking the already assembled chassis.
On the red car, instructions for the the brake calipers were a bit difficult to follow, but are a nice little detail that is absent on the black car. And before you comment I know one of them needs straightening up a bit.
Overall, and somewhat surprisingly, the red car is more robust (other than the aforementioned front brake calipers) and less delicate than the black one, and nowhere illustrates this more better than the side panels. With the red car they form a solid part of the construction of the cockpit, but in the black car they appear to almost be an after thought and the rear part in particular (with the thin turquoise triangle on it) can easily be knocked off. Adding these rear parts was a significant challenge to the integrity of what had been already assembled (in a similar way to adding the cockpit on the red one) as they were either too loose or likely to break more of the car when more force was applied.
Similarly, while a bit simpler, the front wing was definitely much stronger on the red car than the black one and seemed to be more straightforward to construct. This may well have been a compromise, strength for detail. Stylistically the Lego front wing is far superior, it is less blocky and has a more realistic shape.
On the red car, there was a real difficulty in connecting one of the elements (I actually borrowed one from my WALL-E to take the photo) that form the rear wheel assembly and it actually took some time and a lot of brute force to do, but I rather liked the result.
So, in conclusion, it is difficult to say which one is better. The black one, made of authentic Lego is definitely more aesthetically pleasing - even the detailing of the rear wing gives this away. The black one is simple and feels real and the red one has unexplainable vents in it. The red one is definitely stronger, but it lacks some of the fine detailing in some areas - cockpit detailing and front wing for example and the obvious absence of a mini figure. In fairness the same can be said vice versa - think brake calipers and real wheel assembly. So concerning detailing they probably come out even, with one doing something better than the other in both directions.
Maybe the bottom line is that when I am handling the red one I don't feel like I am handling something made of glass. So what might be best is some kind of crossbreeding with the overall strength of the red one, but the aesthetics of the black one.
We must remember that authentic Lego carries more weight than an imitator. People are often proud of their Lego, but nobody says "Come and have a look at my Cobi-Blocks!"
By the way, just in case you hadn't noticed, I have deliberately NOT added the stickers to the red car as they say something generic like Race Car and it would look even cheaper. Ferrari maybe, but better nothing than cheap.
Hope you enjoyed my analysis.
As always stay safe and well my friends.
