The 2020 Mercedes W11 was an evolution of the 2019 W10, which also dominated the season. They achieved 15 poles, 25 podiums, and 9 fastest laps in 17 races, took Lewis Hamilton to his seventh world title and got the constructors’ championship with 4 races to go. So, considering that in 2020 Mercedes dominated the season, we can say that the fastest car in history is the Mercedes W11. This, together with the great evolution of the V6 turbo-engines, has made this achievement possible.įor the years 2017-2021, the fastest cars have been those of 2020, as in 2021, the changes in the regulation have caused their performance to drop between 5 and 10% due to the removal of aero parts from the floor, brake ducks, and diffuser. This brings us that the fastest cars are the current 2017-2021 generation, which is the biggest and heaviest of all and therefore have more grip and are more stable. The graph is done by recording the fastest lap from every race from 1950-2018 and then by comparing the current year’s lap time to the previous year’s lap time on the same track.

Current F1 cars are estimated to be twice as fast as the first ones.īelow we leave a graph made by a Reddit user that shows a progression of F1 lap times. This, along with the numerous rules and regulations introduced, has transformed both the shapes of the cars and their performance, causing F1 cars to become dramatically faster over time. Progression in engineering and technology translates into speed and safety. Since its inception in 1950, F1 has evolved in every aspect and the cars with it. If you’re looking for some F1 merchandise, check out the awesome stuff at the official F1 store here. That is why to carry out this analysis, and we will compare several cars from different eras. The fastest cars of 30, 20, or 10 years ago may not be so today.

However, taking into account top speed, the fastest F1 car is the 2006 Honda RA106, which reached 397,360 km/h.į1 is constantly evolving, and this means that cars too, so the fastest car is something relative to time. Considering lap time, the fastest cars are the 2017-2021 generation, being the 2020 Mercedes W11 the fastest of all. There are many ways in which the speed of a car can be measured. Teams and engineers spend thousands of hours and resources every year to build the fastest machines and leave everyone behind, but have you ever wondered which is the fastest F1 car ever built?

F1 average speed