How fast is an F1 car? Top speed, records and speeds in 2026

How fast is an F1 car?

The highest speed in a race that the FIA has officially recorded is 372.5 km/h (231 mph), according to Williams. Valtteri Bottas reached it in a Williams at the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix: the figure is in the FIA speed trap report.

Mexico City lies 2,240 metres above sea level: the air there is thin, so there is less drag.

There is a higher figure, but it isn’t an FIA measurement. According to Williams, in qualifying for the 2016 European Grand Prix in Baku the speed trap caught Bottas at 366.1 km/h. Further on, before the braking zone, the car reached 378 km/h — as the team themselves reported.

For comparison, in the 2025 race at Monza the speed trap showed 364.1 km/h for Alexander Albon, and in Mexico City 363.0 for Oscar Piastri.

How fast are the cars in 2026?

At the first 15 events of 2026, the best speed was 358.2 km/h: Esteban Ocon in the race in Barcelona. At 11 of the 15 events the race maximum was between 340 and 358 km/h; in Monaco it was 287 km/h.

These figures come from the maximum speed reports the FIA publishes after every session. Speed is measured at four points on the lap: the speed trap, the finish line and two intermediate points. Each circuit has its own positions for them, so compare figures from different circuits with care.

In qualifying the figures are lower: the best over the same 15 events was 340.6 km/h, by Pierre Gasly, also in Barcelona. In a race the cars run closer together, and behind a rival, in the slipstream, there is less air resistance.

Why the cars are slower on the fastest circuits in 2026

Because of the new rules on electrical power. Without Overtake Mode, the MGU-K electric motor gives its full 350 kW only up to 290 km/h; above that its output drops, reaching zero at 345 km/h. In Overtake Mode it keeps pushing up to 355 km/h. At the very highest speeds the car is driven by the internal combustion engine alone — about 400 kW, according to the FIA. The rules are covered in detail in the 2026 regulations article.

Monza is the clearest example. In qualifying the speed trap showed 355.9 km/h in 2025 and 338.1 in 2026. The best race speed fell from 364.1 to 343.9 km/h, in Baku from 359.7 to 349.4, and at Spa from 352.9 to 344.9.

In Budapest, Austria and Barcelona, on the other hand, race maximums went up by 15–28 km/h: in Budapest from 319.0 to 346.8 km/h. Throughout, we compare the best race speed in the FIA reports for 2025 and 2026.

Speed records

Williams call the first two rows records: the first is backed by an FIA report, the second is the team’s own data.

Max Verstappen won the 2025 Italian Grand Prix in 1 h 13 min 24 s — the fastest race in World Championship history. The previous record had stood since 2003: Michael Schumacher set it, also at Monza. How long races usually last is covered in a separate article.

Average race speed

Average speed is the race distance divided by the winner’s time, pit stops and safety car laps included. In 2025, 20 of the 24 races were run at average speeds between 186 and 230 km/h.

In Australia, changeable weather meant part of the race was run on intermediates. Monaco was the slowest race of the season, and top speeds there are modest: 291.5 km/h in the 2025 race.

Acceleration: how quickly to 100 km/h?

There is no official figure: the FIA reports include no standing-start acceleration measurement. The regulations do show what limits it, though:

• only the rear wheels are driven;
• traction control is banned: no system may prevent wheelspin or even warn the driver about it;
• at a standing start the electric motor may only be used from 50 km/h; below that, only if the FIA electronics switch it on so that the car doesn’t accelerate too slowly;
• systems that detect the start signal are banned — the driver reacts to the lights.

So getting off the line depends largely on how well the tyres grip the asphalt and how the driver releases the clutch paddle.

Why don’t F1 cars go faster on the straights?

The wings and the floor create downforce: it lets the car take corners faster, but on the straights it also adds air resistance.

In 2026 the movable wings have two positions. In corners they are set for high downforce, and on the straights the driver switches them to Straight Mode, which cuts drag. The FIA expected the new cars to have about 55% less of it than before. Every driver may use Straight Mode in the zones the FIA marks on each circuit.