Le Mans car vs. F1 car?

Question

How much slower is a top of the line Lemans car than an F1 car around a track? Let's say the new Audi R10 against the Ferrari F2007. The Lemans would have to be second quickest after F1 I think.

Answer 1

Alot will depend on how you compare them. Overall the Le Mans Prototypes would be slower in lap times, but they would also easily out last any of the F1 cars in terms of endurance. But as far as just speed:

If you use Laguna Seca as a comparison track, you'll find that Zonta owns the lap record from the demo laps he turned at the Monterey Historics in 2006 (using a 2006 spec Toyota F1). Laptime was 1:06.5. The same year, the Zytec had the P1 pole for the ALMS race with a 1:13.7 laptime.

However, I think it would be far from fair to consider that an accurate representation of real lap times. I've driven Laguna many times, and first, the summer days when the Toyota drove were warmer than the fall days when ALMS visits. This probably accounted for about a second a lap. Further, the October track was running after fairly recent rain, and under wind that tends to put a little sand over the track making things slower. As well as ALMS running much later in the day and into the evening while the Toyota laps were all mid day.

Finally, the Toyota was not subject to any race inspection to ensure it was actually at correct specs. Knowing they were going for a lap record, I do wonder if something were tuned a little outside of what might be allowed? But in any case, the Toyota is not quite the class of the F1 field, so it could be considered at least in the right ballpark (though when Ferrari ran the 2003 spec car a few years ago, the best they managed was a 1:09).

All said, if you account for different conditions, you are probably looking at a 4-5 second a lap performance difference.

In the case of the R10, the additional year of development it's had has shown a much improved pace at the first races this year (not that it was lagging last year). And while the '07 Ferrari is certainly a faster car than last year's Toyota, the change to a control tire will make the overall package a little slower. Which will probably leave something around 2-3 seconds a lap favoring the Ferrari.

CART has many lap times over the years under the 1:10 barrier at Laguna (and this was before the track was reprofiled after 2005). The current version cars may be a little slower as well for safety reasons, but they are still very close to F1 in terms of total performance. Which would leave the Prototypes a solid third (and a bit ahead of MotoGP pace).

Answer 2

In the past, F1 cars had the definite advantage, but at present, it's quite close. F1 has been very invovled in controlling their speeds, moreso than what's been going on in sports car racing. Further, the tire war is still alive and well in sports car racing. So, while in the past you might of seen an F1 car being able to enjoy a few second advantage over the fastest prototype, but that's not quite the case today. The F1 car enjoys many advantages, but the heavier prototype has more engine volume, better aerodynamics, and more tire choices. If the sports racer were designed and tuned for a shorter race as the F1 car, it might be consistently faster. But it's not. As such, even though the current circumstances favor it, it's outright design has a different aim, and this would compromise in terms of "fastest." Given the right track, the current prototype could be faster than an F1 car, but on most circuits, the F1 car will enjoy a faster lap time. But if you ran them long enough, the enduro car would eventually pass the other sitting still track side. As for stats - I've personally watched demo laps run at Laguna Seca with the 2003 and 2004 Ferrari F1 cars, resulting in a 1:11 lap time. The 2005 Toyota bettered that to a 1:08 (though I do not think the Toyota was in actual race trim, as they fully intended to get the track record). To compare, the P2 RS Spyder has done a 1:09 a couple years ago, while current F1 cars are running just behind the kind of pace the V10s had. As for my favorite? F1. I quite enjoy sports car racing, but not as much as F1.

Answer 3

you are right but remember the reason, le mans prototypes are designed to last, so in a grand prix yes the f1 would win but in an endurance race the audi r10 would be running long after the f1 car blew up,

side note i believe i read that the top speed ever recorded at le Mans is 256 mph before the chicanes where added to the long straight

Answer 4

Except for Land Speed Record cars,and the 2 NITRO classes in NHRA,F1 cars are the fastest.Sorry hillbillies;Nascar isn't even in the top 10.

Answer 5

yeah but f1 rules

Answer 6

May be you are right....I have never seen a Le' mans series.,but i love F1...

Answer 7

yes!
but don't forget:
F1 RULES

Answer 8

LOL!