The difference in time between different race classes: This is how fast F1 is

Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motor racing. It has been called that for years and this will not change for the time being. The pinnacle of motorsport should of course have the fastest cars, but how much faster are they than an F2 car? And can MotoGP compete against an F1 car? We have juxtaposed Silverstone's qualifying times of a number of racing classes.

Formula 1 stands head and shoulders above the rest. The pole position time of Valtteri Bottas of 2019 was a 1:25.093! With this he trumped his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton among others.

The step up class to Formula 1. The big difference between these two classes now is that Formula 2 may not change anything on the car itself, so all cars in the field are equal. So no downforce can be added to wings and the power source must not be made more powerful than the standard package. The fastest F2 time of 2019 was a 1:38.192, more than thirteen seconds slower than Formula 1.

A bit slower than Formula 2, but what goes for F2 also goes for F3. All cars are the same and the cars can hardly be tinkered with. An F3 car is about six seconds slower than a Formula 2 car.

The LMP1 has been dominated by Toyota in recent years because they are the only team using hybrid technologies for their car. They have virtually no competition except themselves. What is striking is that the Toyota TS050 Hybrid is more than two seconds faster than Formula 2 and about eleven seconds slower than F1. For this class, the teams build the car themselves and therefore have freer regulations, like in Formula 1.

An unfair fight, yet interesting to see the differences. Where a Formula 1 car takes less than a minute and a half to complete the circuit at Silverstone it took Marc Marquez almost two minutes with his Honda. On the straights, the bikes can easily keep up with the cars, but the difference in downforce in the corners cuts them down.