F1 car drag racing performance

Edited by MatsNorway, 05 June 2012 - 17:17.

You can by the aid of google earth and some good amount of speculations make a good estimate on the time on this video..



Looking at the video and that it seems to do 0-250 in 7sec .. My guess would be in the high 7sec range. Quite impressive.

Edited by MatsNorway, 06 June 2012 - 11:48.

Edited by MatsNorway, 06 June 2012 - 20:42.

If you allow modifications of the F1 car to optimize it for drag racing, at what point does it cease to be an F1 car and become a dragster?

For example, if you raise the F1 car's ride height, throw away the brake ducts, reconfigure the downforce package for maximum straightline speed, and install a set of drag slicks on the rear, you will certainly improve the car's quarter-mile performance. However, now you have made the car utterly uncompetitive as an F1 car, which is to say, totally f88king useless at the one thing it was ever designed for and the only thing it can ever be any good at. It sure won't be as quick or consistent on a drag strip as an actual dragster of equivalent weight and horsepower. So what was the point again?

F1 cars are also optimized to a significant extent for acceleration from a standing start.

F1 cars are also optimized to a significant extent for acceleration from a standing start. Starts are essentially a drag race to the first corner. So it's not as far fetched as you're making it out to be.

2) I *think* low downforce would win over a quarter mile. IIRC, there's some crossover because downforce can help it get more traction earlier.

Edited by MatsNorway, 07 June 2012 - 09:40.

I would guess ( nothing more) that a 2.4 V-8 car of today with a wing in place would struggle to exceed 210 -220 mph on a quarter mile strip.

Considering that they are only traction limited to about 100km`t (ref video above) i would not run any wing at all. A typical drag track got Enough grip to hook that F1 car up really early.

There are a number of street cars with license plates and state inspection stickers that can beat an F1 car on a drag strip. Badly.

If you allow modifications of the street car to optimize it for drag racing, at what point does it cease to be a street car and become a dragster?

To beat the F1 car, you would need to raise the street car's ride height, install a set of drag slicks on the rear, and make numerous modifications to the suspension at the very least.

An F1 car is not going to run the quarter-mile in the 7s,

Nup. You would run all the wing the F1 rules allow.

Did you even watch the video.. it does 8 sec on a race track. And that's on full tanks, full front downforce and race setup. Normal tire pressure, dirty side of the track etc.

Closer eyeballin makes me guess 8.5 sec.

I have shown video and picture evidence that supports me. I suggest you make some proper analysis to convince me and the rest that a F1 car with less dry weight, less fuel, 200-250hp more and the grip of a drag strip. will not make the remaining 0.501 sec for a 7 sec run.

Keep it to the point. He asked "How fast would a F1 car go on the quarter mile"

Spare us for the "im not impressed by F1" stuff.

You have me all wrong. F1 cars impress the hell out of me -- but not due to their quarter-mile acceleration. I know guys with cars quicker than that who drive them to the track. No kidding.
From my perspective, the F1 car's straight line performance is one of the less impressive things about it.

Quite. Whilst an F1 car in a straight-line would widen the eyes of most people, it's their breaking and high-speed cornering that is what sets them apart.

Edited by Ross Stonefeld, 07 June 2012 - 16:11.

Interesting. What aspect of the car's higher speed performance is compromised in order to gain better acceleration to the first corner? There aren't many knobs to tweak on that one.

My first live experience was the first chicane at Monza during a test. Full tire war, V10s, maximum electronics, etc. I went up in the grandstand until I was about even with where they were getting on the brakes. It is like an optical illusion. You want to pan your view with the car but it always stops short.

Though I should also say a late 90s Formula Atlantic braking for Turn 5 at Road America had a similar thing. I was convinced there was some sort of sound distortion and I was hearing the engine at full rpm after they'd started braking. It was just too late otherwise.

Edited by Scotracer, 07 June 2012 - 20:53.

You have me all wrong. F1 cars impress the hell out of me -- but not due to their quarter-mile acceleration. I know guys with cars quicker than that who drive them to the track. No kidding.
From my perspective, the F1 car's straight line performance is one of the less impressive things about it.

Hi folks,

Was at Santa Pod over the weekend for drag racing and just wondering how a modern F1 car would stack up - does anyone have any relevant stats for a quarter mile straight run from a standing start.

Many Thanks.

Edited by munks, 08 June 2012 - 03:47.

I agree completely. You're making my point for me.

An F1 car makes a lousy dragster. A dragster makes a lousy F1 car. A road car makes a lousy F1 or drag car, etc. and so on.

... although that said, of the three, the road car is certainly the most adaptable to the widest variety of applications. Which only makes sense as both the F1 car and the dragster are highly specialized machines -- laser-focused on their respective design missions, if you will. I hope none of these observations are seen as the least bit controversial. I'm afraid they're terribly obvious, even banal.

Jeez, make up your mind. Is it 7 seconds or 8 seconds or 8.5 seconds? blabla attacking rather than bringing something useful

Formula 1 quarter mile + Google = second post of first link = MATLAB result of 8.28s and 184.6mph trap speed

Edited by MatsNorway, 08 June 2012 - 10:14.

Oh and a BMW/Mclaren Turbo from the 1985-86 in quali spec would not be too bad either. Did they still do manual transmission back then?

First semi-auto gearbox was the 1989 Ferrari.

It is a well-known fact that a good driver using a manual dog box can change gear just as fast as a semi-auto box.

It is a well-known fact that a good driver using a manual dog box can change gear just as fast as a semi-auto box.

It is a well-known fact that a good driver using a manual dog box can change gear just as fast as a semi-auto box.

It is a well-known fact that a good driver using a manual dog box can change gear just as fast as a semi-auto box.

Somebody somewhere is going to bet his buddy what's faster, so they'll do a Google search for that fact, find your post on this Technical Forum, and declare it to be true. You know that don't you?

To add some more data points you have the Autocar test on the Bugatti Veyron SS.

standing quarter in 10.1 @ 147.9 mph.

That car has 1183 bhp ( yes more than a 917 canam turbo panzer ) but weighs virtually two tonnes ( 1995 kg believe it or not!)

An F1 car must be 1/3rd the weight but have about half the power.

To give some interpolation it does 0 - 60 mph in 2.6 secs ( 1988 McL was slower at 2.8 ses).

It does 0 - 100 mph in 5.0 secs. ( 1988 McL was 4.4 secs )

0 - 125 mph is 7.1 secs for the Veyron versus 5.6 for the 1988 McL.

So the old 1988 F1 car gained 1.7 seconds between 60 mph and 125 mph.

Hope that helps a bit

That makes my 71 Ford Galaxie a light weight @just 1950kg. And that does the quarter in about 16.1!