The Formula 1 speed record reached 372.5 km/h
There are many car racing events in the world. You name it, NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, World Rally Championship (WRC), 24 Hours of Le Mans, to the latest Extreme E. But if you want to find out who is the fastest of these competitions, usually people will mention NASCAR, IndyCar, and Formula 1.
The reason for this could be that these cars race on circuits with smooth roads. Unlike the WRC or Extreme E, which is generally done in open land. The chances of getting the highest speed are slightly reduced. Which one is the fastest, between NASCAR, IndyCar, and Formula 1?
Quoted from Autosport, Formula 1 is the fastest racing car today. With a speed reaching 397.36 km per hour, Honda managed to record their name through their RA106 car in 2006. Even so, the speed of Formula 1 cars on the track never reached the record for safety reasons.
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The highest to date is held by Valtteri Bottas who was racing for Williams in 2016. Bottas was able to reach a speed of 372.5 km per hour while racing in the Formula 1 Mexican GP.
IndyCars are second to the fastest racing cars with their top speed of up to 380 km per hour. In addition, they also pass very quickly on a straight track than Formula 1 cars.
However, overall Formula 1 is still the fastest. To go around the circuit of the Americas in the 2019 United States GP, IndyCar takes about 1 minute 46 seconds with an average speed of about 186.3 km per hour. While Formula 1 is six seconds faster than IndyCar with 1 minute 32 seconds with an average speed of about 206.3 km per hour.
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Compared to the previous two races, NASCAR is slightly slower. Its top speed is only about 321 km per hour. The reason is as an effort to prevent accidents that can hurt spectators and drivers when the race occurs. For example, the incident during the NASCAR Winston 500 race in 1987.
The car, driven by Bobby Allison at high speed, was hit and lifted into the air before crashing into a guardrail near the audience. To prevent similar incidents from happening, NASCAR also limits the high speed of cars.
NASCAR’s acceleration is also slower when compared to IndyCar and Formula 1. IndyCar takes three seconds to reach a speed of 90 km per hour and Formula 1 only needs 2.1 seconds. NASCAR takes 3.4 seconds.
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It is likely also influenced by the budget of each team that has been regulated by the organizer. NASCAR, for example, quoted from GMAuthority requires funds of around US$30 million or around Rp427 billion in each season. Funds are needed for each aero change in each race.
Meanwhile, IndyCar, on the contrary, only needs about US$6.5 million or Rp92 billion for one season, quoted from Racer. Formula 1 is the fastest and most expensive car race. The budget required for the team to compete in Formula 1 reached US$145 million or around Rp2 trillion.
The budget has also been cut from the previous US$175 million or equivalent to Rp 2.4 trillion in 2020 and is expected to continue to decline in the following years. The reason is that teams with small budgets can compete with teams that have larger funds.