Discussion
I don't know about current regs, but in the past Le Mans cars were doing 240 mph and had full downforce. An F1 car would need its ride height raising to cope with running on public roads, so would lose some of its performance.
I think it was at the height of the group C era where the cars would do lap times that would put them on an F1 grid, but that was on circuits suited to F1 cars, so put an F1 car on a circuit suited to group C at their best and the result would be different, possibly.
I think it was at the height of the group C era where the cars would do lap times that would put them on an F1 grid, but that was on circuits suited to F1 cars, so put an F1 car on a circuit suited to group C at their best and the result would be different, possibly.
A few months ago somewhere on PH I did a little comparison of F1/Prototype lap times on circuits (IIRC, it was to estimate what time Heidfeld might do at the NS, which event turned out to be much ado about nothing).
IIRC, on the same circuits in the same years (early '80s), F1 cars were something like 3% faster.
Part of the problem with these comparisons is that Mosley and his fcukwit buddies have kept changing the formulae.
- How fast would an F1 car be if they could still use V10s?
- How fast would an F1 car be on real racing tyres, that is, on slicks?
- Suppose they were not forced to run F1 cars with an artificially-high front wing?
Etc., etc.
IIRC, on the same circuits in the same years (early '80s), F1 cars were something like 3% faster.
Part of the problem with these comparisons is that Mosley and his fcukwit buddies have kept changing the formulae.
- How fast would an F1 car be if they could still use V10s?
- How fast would an F1 car be on real racing tyres, that is, on slicks?
- Suppose they were not forced to run F1 cars with an artificially-high front wing?
Etc., etc.
Edited by flemke on Saturday 16th June 15:25
Nowadays F1 cars are likely to be quicker over alap just about anywhere, of course in te early 70s the 917s and 512s were quicker than F1 cars at places like Spa and Monza.
F1 cars are likely to be far slower around the lap if the were tuned to make 240mph down the Mulsanne and they couldnt last the pace either
F1 cars are likely to be far slower around the lap if the were tuned to make 240mph down the Mulsanne and they couldnt last the pace either
in the corners i would have thought that the f1 car would be quicker through the corners but a le mans car would be faster on the long straights. i dont think that an f1 car would last the full distance either as they are not built to last the whole season only two races whilist le mans cars cover the same distance as the whole f1 season in just 24 hours.
F1 cars are more powerful (approx 780bhp), are lighter (605kg), have better brakes, better aerodynamics, better acceleration.
LMP1 Le Mans cars are limited on power to around 650bhp, they weigh more (minimum of 925kg) so braking distances are greater and slower to accelerate.
A Le Mans car wouldn't see which way the F1 went.
LMP1 Le Mans cars are limited on power to around 650bhp, they weigh more (minimum of 925kg) so braking distances are greater and slower to accelerate.
A Le Mans car wouldn't see which way the F1 went.
F1 cars do more than 2 1/5 hours. Engine wise they do 2 race weekends. That's 4 hours of racing plus another 8/9 hours during practice and qualifying over the 2 weekends. If they detuned the cars a bit they could probably go a lot further. Plus they can be beefed up with better suspension, for the likes of Monaco which considering the camber, kerbing and bumps is just as hard.
Besides not every Le Mans car can make it to 24hrs, lots of them break down far far earlier.
Besides not every Le Mans car can make it to 24hrs, lots of them break down far far earlier.
FourWheelDrift said:
F1 cars do more than 2 1/5 hours. Engine wise they do 2 race weekends. That's 4 hours of racing plus another 8/9 hours during practice and qualifying over the 2 weekends. If they detuned the cars a bit they could probably go a lot further. Plus they can be beefed up with better suspension, for the likes of Monaco which considering the camber, kerbing and bumps is just as hard.
Besides not every Le Mans car can make it to 24hrs, lots of them break down far far earlier.
A f1 car tuned to last 24hrs would end up being slower than a sportscar.Besides not every Le Mans car can make it to 24hrs, lots of them break down far far earlier.
Two very different animals designed for very different purposes.
There have been times in the past when Le Mans cars were both technologically ahead of and faster than Grand Prix cars (the 1950s and some of the 1960s). In 1965, virtually all the GP circuit lap records were held by Le Mans cars.
There have been times in the past when Le Mans cars were both technologically ahead of and faster than Grand Prix cars (the 1950s and some of the 1960s). In 1965, virtually all the GP circuit lap records were held by Le Mans cars.
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