F1 Racing: Certainly, the latest Grand Prix cars are among the most advanced that have ever been built, but that would not mean that they must be the fastest F1 cars ever.
Formula 1 teams never rest in the pursuit of more speed, but that does not automatically mean that the latest machines will be the fastest Formula 1 car ever.
Actually, the striving for faster requires that rules are changed constantly, in order that cars are pushed back, or the level of downforce created by a car is reduced or that cornering speed and/or restriction of engine power so that the top speeds do not get too frantic.
Thus, whereas today’s generation of cars has already clocked speeds over 230 mph, their heavier chassis and ground-effect design so far have deprived it of being faster than the astonishing machines we saw before the significant regulation changes for 2022.
It was at the Italian Grand Prix in 2020 that Lewis Hamilton set what, to date remains, the outright F1 lap record: at an average speed of 164.267 mph (264.362 km/h), Lewis took the pole from Max Verstappen and his Red Bull, whilst driving his Mercedes W11. That’s a record yet to be beaten – but cars now in their third season of racing are getting close. Lando Norris averaging 163.391 mph (262.897 km/h) around Monza this weekend on pole lap.
So the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton from the 2020 season remains the fastest F1 car going around, but only over a full Grand Prix weekend. Read on to see why that is.
‘Fastest’ F1 lap record
The fastest average speed, recorded in one lap of Hamilton’s 2020 pole lap ever in F1 history, surpasses the previous record of 163.785 mph (263.587 km/h) that was achieved by two-time world champion Kimi Raikkonen two years ago on the same circuit with a Ferrari SF71H. His own record is at the head of a long bench by Juan Pablo Montoya’s qualifying performance in 2004.
It was Monza, and with his pole lap in the BMW FW26, he took the single-lap record that would hold until the new, wider cars arrived; his average speed was 161.451mph (259.83 km/h).
That was enough to place him out in front of Keke Rosberg’s 19-year-old record for the Monza lap. The Finn lapped at Silverstone in 1985 in support of a memorable pole position, taking the lap at an average speed of 160.94 mph (259.01 km/h) in a largely uncomplicated car design but around a much faster circuit than the modern version.
Hamilton’s record lap owed something to new technology and a better understanding of aerodynamics, but it owed something as well to the rules of the time, which featured fixed specifications for slick tires. Older cars from the late 1990s to the late 2000s used grooved tires to reduce grip and therefore cornering speed. Of course, even in the good old days, there were still cars taking records for the fastest lap on circuits on the calendar with their V10 engines.
The record is held by Pedro de la Rosa in the 2005 Bahrain race in a McLaren MP4-20, while the Italian GP lap record is held by Rubens Barrichello, who achieved this in 2004 in a Ferrari F2004.
Previous F1 average lap speed records
| Driver | Team | Car | Speed | Year |
| Keke Rosberg | Williams | FW10 | 259.01km/h (160.94mph) | 1985 |
| Juan Pablo Montoya | BMW | FW26 | 259.83 km/h (161.451mph) | 2004 |
| Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | SF17H | 263.586km/h (163.785mph) | 2018 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | W11 | 264.362km/h (164.267mph) | 2020* Current record |
Which of the several F1 eras featured the fastest cars?
Of the 24 circuits currently on the F1 calendar, 16 boast F1 car lap records built between 2018 and 2021. The nine others split evenly between the newest generation of cars, which hold six of the records, and pre-2005 machines with three record claims to their name.
This is not surprising as new regulations in 2018 reversed this trend and changed it to increase the speed of the cars, to make Grands Prix more exciting. The philosophy was then turned around with the current rules being imposed in 2022 to enable closer racing but which also slowed the cars.
Teams haven’t fully regained the ground they lost, but are gradually making some backup: some circuits witnessed 2023 cars nearly a whole second of the circuit faster than the year before and, in some cases, even eclipsing old records. The old cars are still quicker in most respects, but records are in some ways intact, held by those older cars because of their powerful V10s and the lower downforce levels delivering better top speeds.
All of the 2024 F1 tracks recorded by their relevant official lap times
Lap records for every 2024 F1 circuit
| Grand Prix | Circuit | Lap time | Driver |
| Bahrain Grand Prix | Bahrain International Circuit | 1:31.447 | Pedro de la Rosa (2005) |
| Saudi Arabian Grand Prix | Jeddah | 1:30.734 | Lewis Hamilton (2021) |
| Australian Grand Prix | Melbourne | 1:20.235 | Sergio Perez (2023) |
| Japanese Grand Prix | Suzuka | 1:30.983 | Lewis Hamilton (2020) |
| Chinese Grand Prix | Shanghai | 1:32.238 | Michael Schumacher (2004) |
| Miami Grand Prix | Miami International Autodrome | 1:29.708 | Max Verstappen (2023) |
| San Marino Grand Prix | Imola | 1:15.484 | Lewis Hamilton (2020) |
| Monaco Grand Prix | Monte Carlo | 1:12.909 | Lewis Hamilton (2021) |
| Canadian Grand Prix | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve | 1:13.078 | Valtteri Bottas (2019) |
| Spanish Grand Prix | Catalunya | 1:16.330 | Max Verstappen (2023) |
| Austrian Grand Prix | Red Bull Ring | 1:05.619 | Carlos Sainz (2020) |
| British Grand Prix | Silverstone | 1:27.097 | Max Verstappen (2020) |
| Hungarian Grand Prix | Hungaroring | 1:16.627 | Lewis Hamilton (2020) |
| Belgian Grand Prix | Spa-Francorchamps | 1:46.286 | Valtteri Bottas (2018) |
| Dutch Grand Prix | Zandvoort | 1:11.097 | Lewis Hamilton (2021) |
| Italian Grand Prix | Monza | 1:21.046 | Rubens Barrichello (2004) |
| Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Baku City Street Circuit | 1:43.009 | Charles Leclerc (2019) |
| Singapore Grand Prix | Marina Bay | 1:41.905 | Kevin Magnussen (2018) |
| United States Grand Prix | Circuit of the Americas | 1:36.169 | Charles Leclerc (2019) |
| Mexico City Grand Prix | Mexico City | 1:21.334 | Lewis Hamilton (2023) |
| Sao Paulo Grand Prix | Interlagos | 1:10.540 | Valtteri Bottas (2018) |
| Las Vegas Grand Prix | Las Vegas | 1:35.490 | Oscar Piastri (2023) |
| Qatar Grand Prix | Losail International Circuit | 1:24.319 | Max Verstappen (2023) |
| Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Yas Marina | 1:26.103 | Max Verstappen (2021) |
What is the fastest recorded speed ever for a car in F1?
Juan Pablo Montoya achieved the highest speed ever recorded by an F1 car during a race when he dominated from the pole at the Italian Grand Prix of 2005 to win the Colombian’s second of the ’05 season with McLaren-Mercedes. During that race, his MP4-20 was clocked at 231.52 mph (372.6 km/h) through the speed trap.
That record has since been unofficially broken, though. Williams claimed data from Valtteri Bottas’ car showed the Finn achieved a top speed of 234.9 mph (378 km/h) during practice for the 2016 European Grand Prix. But a machine from the mid-2000s has them both beat. At least technically. The 2006 Honda holds the record for the fastest F1 car ever, but there are some conditions attached to it.
It was in the hands of ex-FIA Medical Car driver Alan van der Merwe that there was a record attempt by Honda with the 2006 RA106, a specially built Honda F1 car, which took the Bonneville Salt Flats to enter the record books.
The car was extremely similar to the standard Monza-spec but the record car boasted an unrestricted V10 engine, a stability wing instead of the standard rear wing and tires specifically designed to handle the salt flats.
The official F1 top speed record stands at 397.360 km/h (246.908 mph) which does not quite reach Honda’s projected target of 400 km/h. However, in testing, Van der Merwe recorded 413.205 km/h (256.753 mph) on one attempt but unfortunately could not repeat this on the return run, missing out on an even faster record.
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