Are 2017 cars the fastest in F1 yet?

[E65Ross]

Looking back, many lap records appear to be held by cars from 2004, with the occasional was from 2005 or 09/10....this year the cars are a good 3-4 seconds per lap faster...are they likely to be setting any records? Or are the cars from 2004 just SO much faster?

[E65Ross]

Dr Z said:

Posted this in the GP thread.

I said:

I found it intriguing that the total race time yesterday of 1hr 24min 11.672s is the fastest GP recorded for the Melbourne track, won at an average speed of ~215 km/h. The fastest ever before this was in 2004: 1hr 24min 15.757. The lap record for the 2004 race is still some way off the fastest lap yesterday, however going into my lap time archive, it looks like Schumacher 3-stopped his way to winning the race, which would explain why he could run close to the car's ultimate pace through the race (plus refuelling). There was one less race lap yesterday, and the average speed for the 2004 race winning time was ~219 km/h. It's unbelievable that these new cars are so close to the 2004 car while not doing refuelling and on a 1-stop.

There's your answer. Vettel's Ferrari would have completed the full race distance in around 1hr 25min 40.4s (assuming average speed of 215.4 km/h), finishing 7th probably a lap down on Schumacher's Ferrari. These cars are knocking on the 2004 cars right out of the box.

So they aren't quite as fast then? 4km/h is a reasonable amount slower....