How Fast Would Formula 1 Go at the Indy 500?

The Indianapolis 500 is one of the most prestigious racing events in the world, where the cars reach over 230 miles per hour and race nose to tail for 200 laps.

But what would happen if you put an F1 car on the grid? Would be able to go quicker?

We’ve done some research to find out.

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Indycars and Formula 1 cars look pretty similar. Both open-wheel formula cars, lots of downforce and both run turbocharged V6 engines. However, there are some pretty big differences.

Indycar is a spec series, meaning that all cars run the same Dallara chassis, the same aero package for each circuit and have the choice of two engines - Honda or Chevrolet. A bit like the Corvette from earlier!

[Cheeky mention - not required but would be a cool freebie]

Whereas, Formula 1 is a constructor championship. The cars are made by the teams, with only some components shared between the teams - like Williams using Mercedes engines and Haas running Ferrari components like the steering wheel.

Indycar run the series like this to save costs for the teams and encourage closer racing, meaning there are very limited opportunities to spend more money and gain an advantage over other teams.

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[Driver]

What do you think? Would Indy win? Or Formula 1?

[henkjacobs]

Well, I say it again, maybe Red Bull should test it as they love their marketing! Great vid btw

[jacksanna]

"Ovals are incredibly tricky to get right", that's because they only turn left 😂

[petebeatminister]

I think the top speed issue could be solved, by some modifications to the airodynamics and gearbox. But I have doubts that the engines could survive 800 km of running full throttle almost permanently.

[btbarr]

I remember when Alonso raced at Indy, Daniel Riccardo was asked if he would ever do it, and his answer surprised me. He said, "ahh maybe Daytona one day, but Indy scares me."

[backcountryme]

A quick summation of this video. An F1 car could compete at Indy if it was modded to be an Indycar.

[uweclaunitzer]

You missed an important point here: F1 engines are NOT designed to run on an oval. You would need special lubrication systems to deal with the asymmetric loading. Just ask Ilmor - when F1 returned to the Indy road circuit in 2000, Hakkinens engine failed due to those unique stresses on the banked part of the circuit.

[indyrpm]

Wasn’t expecting much but you did a nice job on the video. I am the Crew Chief for the current Indianapolis 500 all time track record holder. (Luyendyk 1996 239.26 mph unofficial, 237.498 mph official) The record has stood now for 27 years. One of the things that is not talked about is the experience at running at this track. No formula 1 team has the experience to “just” make it happen. Our track records were a compilation between myself and my engineer of 36 years of experience at the Indy 500. We developed some “secret stuff” over many years, and it all came together that day of qualifying. It would be very hard for any Formula 1 engineers to make any car go fast at Indy without the experience. And a quick note, maybe not 300mph, but on our 239 mph lap, a Little know fact is we broke 250 miles per hour on that lap going into turn 3 on the PI data…..250.216 to be exact. Won’t see that for a while again.

[antonioallen]

Both types of cars are gorgeous machines that are designed for two different types of tracks. And the speed they both can go is astounding! It is great to hear how and why each are designed. Fascinating.

[javiazar]

This is either a re-upload or I'm having the biggest dejavu of my life.

[jasondeal]

Hamilton driving an Indy car: "My tires are gone"

[ceyovnb]

I’ve had the pleasure of attending both F1 and INDYCAR races starting in the late 70’s. I enjoy both series for the differences. One for the unbelievable technology the other for the competitiveness. Too many talented drivers are never able to shine in F1 given the lack of competitive drives available. INDYCAR addresses that issue and it shows. Driver’s may start on the front row one week and the next be twelfth on the grid. I enjoy both series

[mechanicallycreative]

I did the HVAC at Ilmor engineering for 6 years. Listening to Indy engines on their dynos all day was great.

[NicJohnson]

Those iPad drawing segments were actually impressive. Typically the whole segment is animated together including the hand to look like someone is drawing in realtime, but it's all part of the animation. The drawing segments in this video all seem authentic. Which if so, wow. That's a commendable amount of effort. 🙇‍♀️

[matthiasice]

F1 at Indianapolis brings up bad memories. As a kid, I remember trying to watch that race with my Dad and it turned into a 6 car sham of a race.

[timlong]

The fun thing about watching Indy car is that the person that starts in first doesn't always win.

[AvaaSlays_Swiftie]

Amazing video. Love how you discuss how complicated an oval race can be. To me being a fan of Motorsport. Each one takes a special kind of driver and crew to master. Makes having a variety of Motorsport to watch fun.

[maddoctor]

It’s old news now but I still shake my head in amazement every time I’m reminded of the fact that the current generation of F1 engines can wring over 1000hp from a 1.6L engine. Just amazing.

[msnovtue]

FWIW, I'm a longtime Indy resident & racing fan. In 2004, I ended up working as a flagger (marshal) for that year's US GP on the Indy road course. In Friday practice, Schumacher was hitting 250+ mph down the front straight. I know a lot has changed since then in both F1 & Indycar, but thought the info might be of interest to some.

[graememay]

Not sure what the Dallara runs now, but the Reynard and the Lola days we had adjustable diff pressure from the cockpit, roll bars etc adjustable from the cockpit (Lola had hydraulic ARB), the wings also had the quick turn adjusters that F1 copied after a few years. This was all to be able to keep the car stable as the fuel load changed (Methanol = uses twice as much as petroleum) and the tyre wear (brutal on say Daytona or at the Brickyard. As for the suspension, they have a separate set for Long Ovals, Short Ovals and Road Course.