Would Lewis still win if he got a car from a showroom like the rest of us?
THE Formula 1 season kicks off in Melbourne next Sunday. Not even the coronavirus outbreak is likely to stop Lewis Hamilton topping Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 F1 wins this year. And he’s hot favourite to secure his seventh World Championship, equalling Schumacher and arguably making Lewis the greatest F1 driver of all time.
It’s set to be one of the most thrilling – and unpredictable – F1 seasons for years. The Chinese Grand Prix has already been postponed due to the Covid-19 crisis, with more delays or cancellations likely to follow.
This year, six road-car makers are competing in Formula 1, including four that produce cars ordinary motorists can afford. They’ll be hoping a strong F1 performance will get British buyers flocking to their showrooms.
But what if the six had to field their fastest road car in Melbourne? With the most powerful street-legal cars from Mercedes, Aston Martin, McLaren and Ferrari now matching or even exceeding the horsepower of a modern F1 car, a race between the cars you can actually buy wouldn’t be much slower or less exciting.
But how would the F1 grid change? Would Lewis’s record-breaking season be imperilled if he had to race a Merc with number plates? Let’s find out…
GRID POSITION: 1 TEAM: Aston Martin Red Bull Racing BASED: Milton Keynes STAR DRIVER: Max Verstappen CAR: Valkyrie POWER: 1,160bhp
ASTON Martin claims its Valkyrie will be the world’s fastest street-legal car. That won’t be verified until it’s tested against the Mercedes- AMG One, but we think it would be enough to deny Mercedes the World Championship for the first time since 2013. The Valkyrie is the vision of Briton Adrian Newey, the most successful F1 designer of all time. Aston and Red Bull have developed the Valkyrie together, but unlike the One, it doesn’t use an F1 powerplant. Instead it has the most powerful naturally aspirated engine ever fitted to a road car: a 6.5-litre V12 monster making 1,000hp. A hybrid electric motor adds 160bhp. At just over a ton, the Valkyrie weighs less than most city cars, which is almost certain to give it pole position over its Mercedes rival. Only 150 will be made at about £2.5 million each.
GRID POSITION: 2 TEAM: Mercedes AMG Petronas BASED: Brackley STAR DRIVER: Lewis Hamilton (right) CAR: AMG One POWER: ‘In excess of 1,000bhp’
MERCEDES may be cheating a little here because its One hypercar uses t he drivetrain of its 2017 World Championship-winning F1 car. Making an F1 engine usable on public roads has been a huge challenge. The One has been delayed by two years, with deliveries starting in 2021. But with the addition of two more electric motors driving t he front wheels, t he One will easily exceed the power output of an F1 car. Mercedes says only that it will be in excess of 1,000bhp. It may get close to the 1,160bhp that Aston Martin has declared for the Valkyrie, but that car’s lower weight and higher downforce will probably give it the edge. Even if the One comes second, you have to give kudos to Mercedes for having the nerve to essentially put number plates on a Formula 1 car. Even at £2 million, all 275 have already been sold.
GRID POSITION: 3 TEAM: Scuderia Ferrari BASED: Maranello, Italy STAR DRIVER: Charles Leclerc CAR: SF90 Stradale POWER: 986bhp
UNLIKE the Mercedes one, Ferrari’s latest range-topper borrows only its name from last year’s F1 car, but it’s still the fastest-accelerating roadgoing Ferrari ever. Its 4- litre twin- turbo V8 petrol engine is boosted by three electric motors that can drive the car unaided for 15 miles. Just like last season, it won’t be quite enough to beat the Mercedes. But it should bea t M c L a ren ’ s qui c kes t car, which has more power but will lack the Ferrari’s agility on track. Priced at about £700,000, there’s no limit on production, but a very long queue.
GRID POSITION: 4 TEAM: McLaren F1 BASED: Woking STAR DRIVER: Carlos Sainz Jr CAR: Speedtail POWER: 1,035bhp
McLAREN finished a creditable fourth last season. It would finish a road-car race in the same spot. But even among its quick rivals, the new McLaren Speedtail stands out. Unlike the three cars above, the Speedtail is an elegant grand tourer, capable of carrying three people from London to Monaco in comfort and great haste. Its 1,035bhp is produced by a twinturbocharged V8 petrol engine – with hybrid assi s t ance. The Speedtail’s teardrop shape gives it the lowest drag of any road-going McLaren, and combines with that power output to produce the highest top speed of any McLaren, at 250mph. Just 106 will be made, and all are sold at £1.75 million.
GRID POSITION: 5 TEAM: Alfa Romeo Racing BASED: Hinwil, Switzerland STAR DRIVER: Kimi Raikkonen CAR: Giulia GTAm POWER: 533bhp
ALFA’S star driver, Kimi Raikkonen, has two kids and is the only F1 driver over 40, so a practical saloon would suit him. But he might be disappointed to find that the back seats in the Alfa Romeo GTAm have been replaced by a roll cage. Based on the already blisteringly fast Quadrifoglio version of Alfa’s standard Giulia saloon, the new GTA revives a name used by famous racing Alfas of the past. It’s likely to top £100,000 and get close to 200mph. The 533hp twin- turbo V6 was designed by the same guy who created the V8s used by Ferrari. The regular GTA will have rear seats, but this even more extreme GTAm version ditches them to save weight and adds a bigger wing and carbon race seats, so it’s the obvious choice for our road-car Grand Prix.
GRID POSITION: 6 TEAM: Renault F1 BASED: Enstone STAR DRIVER: Daniel Ricciardo CAR: Megane RS Trophy R POWER: 296bhp
MASS-market brand Renault can’t offer a road car to compete with an Aston or a Ferrari. Its fastest is a hot version of its familyfriendly Megane hatchback, but it offers more track performance than you might expect. This RS Trophy R version set a new lap record for a front-wheel-drive at Germany’s Nurburgring last year, and you can buy the same car for £72,140. That’s pretty eye-watering for a hatchback, but you’re getting a car with genuine F1 heritage: its chief engineer worked on Fernando Alonso’s World Championship-winning Renaults, and the car uses F1-style diffusers to keep it pinned to the road in fast corners. If 72 grand is a bit much, you can get a version of the car without some of the crazier details for 20 grand less. Still a lot for a hatchback, but it’s huge fun to drive.