Formula One is in danger of losing some of its status as an ultra-high speed sport, as modern supercars put greater speeds in the hands of mere mortals than F1 cars can achieve.
The ?â?ó?óÔé¼?í?é?¼1,000,000 (?âÔÇÜ?é?ú810,000) Bugatti Veyron, built by the Volkswagen Group, raised the bar for production car top speeds to 407 kph (253 mph). Koenigsegg’s new CCX will do 395 kph. But both of these could well be blown away by a the latest attempt to build a ‘road-legal’ F1 car.
The Freestream T1 project, recenty bought out by Caparo, is based on a radically different philosophy than the Veyron. The Veyron employs a 1,001 bhp engine to push its 1,950kg bulk past 400 kph. The T1 will have only a quarter of the Veyron’s weight and 500 bhp.
Modern V8-era Formula One cars are starting to look underpowered in comparison:
| Car | Bugatti Veyron | Koenigsegg CCX |
| Top speed | 407 kph | 395 kph |
| Acceleration | 0-62 mph (100 kph) 2.4s | 0-62 mph (100 kph) 3.2s |
| Weight | 1,950kg | 1,180kg |
| Car | Caparo T1 (estimates) | Mclaren MP4-21 |
| Top speed | TBA | 340kph* |
| Acceleration | 0-60 mph (96kph) 2.5s | 0-60 mph (96kph) 2.3s |
| Weight | 500kg | 600kg |
*In low-drag Monza specification. Trimmed for maximum speed a Formula One car should be able to reach 400kph, as BAR-Honda attempted last year.
Tags: f1 / formula one / grand prix / motor sport / bugatti veyron / mclaren
Don Speekingleesh
24th May 2006, 15:22
Sure the GT cars at Le Mans have been faster in a straight line than F1 cars for years now. What makes F1 special has never been top speed, but cornering speed. And there is still nothing to match that.
Louis Marlowe
13th May 2007, 14:39
You cannot compare a Bugatti, no matter how fast, to a Formula 1 car. F1 cars are designed to be as fast as possible in ALL aspects of the track, cars like the Koenigsegg can’t handle tight corners. If you took a Bugatti Veyron and a Ferarri F2007 to the Cote d’Azur (Monte Carlo), you’ll see just how vast the difference in time is.
BMan1113VR
14th June 2007, 2:31
Okay, but F1 is not designed for top speed, their gear ratios are specific to each individual track (not to mention the drag from all the downforce). Also 0-60mph is not a good comparison, as an f1 car can accelerate faster from 60-120 that 0-60 (I would love to see any road legal car try to replicate that)!
Senna Williams
12th July 2007, 21:49
also, a formula 1 car is on groove tires to limit performance (by reducing contact patch).
gogi
14th February 2008, 19:49
formula 1 does 0-60 in 1.9 sec
Dennis
27th January 2009, 5:26
where did u get that time?…it seems a lil fast 1.9 seconds is rediculous. id say more in the 2.4-2.8 range but ok.
Mike
8th March 2012, 17:24
The record for formula one 0-60 mph is 1.6s (dig it up on google) But the average time is 2.1s
Hedley Thorne
22nd September 2008, 17:50
I would like to see the old V10 F1 statistics from about 2004. Once you see an F1 going around The Becketts complex at Silverstone it is impossible to imagine how anything can do that any faster without falling to pieces. Maybe they should use a Veyron as the Safety Car..!
Shadzy
16th June 2009, 10:33
you can’t compare a road car with a formula 1 car as the fastest F1 cars 2003-2004 seasons could accelerat from a stand still 0-150mph in 6 secs compared with 10.2secs for the buggati veyron
pratik
6th December 2010, 14:13
take a check f1 cars were at their peak racing speeds in 2004-05 before those idiots scrapped the V10’s.Antonnio pizzonia reached 369.9kph on the monza straight during practice as against the regulars who ranged around about 360-65kph.Apparently,those cars reached around 345kph on the remaining 3 straights of Monza!That for me was the peakest performance of an f1 car back then.However,the BAR Honda reached 413kph at Bonnevile check this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W82DsPkgV-U .And as for todays f1 cars they are about 2 to 3 seconds slower than 2004 :( so for me f1 is dying!!!!!!
Ola
14th November 2014, 8:04
Total nonsense comparison! F1 can be faster that Veyron on a straight if changing downforce and gear ratio… however around a track, Veyron doesnt even stand a chance against a F4…