What is the fastest F1 car of all time?

The new Formula 1 regulations have arrived, but they won’t be troubling any speed records in their first year. Despite their cutting-edge technology, the new powertrain units are somewhat strangled by restrictive energy-use rules, and that means they’re constantly balancing power deployment with regeneration. Even with slippery, new movable aerodynamics, the 2026 cars aren’t yet as fast as their older counterparts.

Of course, cars get faster as the teams find more tricks and techniques to exploit within the regulations, but if you want to find the fastest car in Formula 1 right now you’ll be going into the history books. With that in mind, here are the fastest Formula 1 cars of all time.

What is the fastest Formula 1 lap of all time?

The fastest lap in the sport used to belong to Lewis Hamilton’s imperious Mercedes W11 in Monza. Widely regarded as one of the fastest cars of all time, Hamilton’s Mercedes powered him to a seventh world championship that year. But, more notably for this page, Hamilton drove the car on a 164.267mph (264km/h) average speed lap during the 2020 Monza qualifying session.

However, that record now belongs to Max Verstappen who eclipsed Hamilton’s benchmark by just 0.3km/h — once again at Monza — in qualifying for the 2025 Italian Grand Prix. It was the final season of the previous generation of ground-effect cars, which had been developed to become faster and faster over four seasons.

However, the record for outright top speed — at any single point of a lap — is considerably older. Unofficially, Valtteri Bottas‘s 234.9mph (378kph) charge down the Baku straight in 2016 remains unbeaten, though this was only verified by Bottas’s Williams team. Based on official timing, the official record still belongs to Juan Pablo Montoya, who was clocked at 231.52mph (372.6km/h) 20 years ago – also at Monza.

Formula 1 car speed records

Fastest F1 car (lap record)

Car: Red Bull RB21
Driver: Max Verstappen
Event: 2025 Italian Grand Prix qualifying at Monza
Average speed: 164.466mph (264.682km/h)

Verstappen’s lap of 1min 18.792sec pipped Lando Norris to pole by just 0.077sec, and in doing so became the fastest lap in the sport’s history. His average speed beat Hamilton’s 2020 mark by 0.199mph (0.320km/h).

Highest F1 car top speed

Car: McLaren MP4-20
Driver: Juan Pablo Montoya
Event: 2005 Italian Grand Prix at Monza
Top Speed: 231.52mph (372.6km/h)

Though not a lap record, Juan Pablo Montoya set the highest top speed ever officially recorded during a grand prix weekend while driving the potent McLaren MP4-20 in 2005. He hit 231.52mph on Monza’s long straights – a record that still stands in official FIA race weekend data. Bottas has gone faster, though not officially.

Record for the ‘fastest’ F1 lap

Verstappen’s 2025 pole lap now holds the record for fastest average speed across a lap in F1 history, taking over from Hamilton’s 2020 benchmark of 164.267mph (264.362km/h). That lap  stood for five years, having replaced Kimi Räikkönen‘s 2018 effort in the Ferrari SF71H.

Räikkönen topped a long-standing benchmark set by Montoya in qualifying for the 2004 Italian Grand Prix. His BMW Williams FW26 held the single-lap record at 161.451mph (259.83km/h) until wider cars came along.

That ’04 lap was only good enough to beat Keke Rosberg‘s record, which had stood for 19 years. The Finn’s pole lap at Silverstone in 1985 averaged 160.94mph (259.01km/h), and he did it around a much faster, pre-chicane layout, in significantly more basic car.

Verstappen’s record lap benefitted from newer technology and a more advanced understanding of aerodynamics, but also the regulations of the time, including the fixed specifications for slick tyres. Older cars from the late 1990s to late 2000s used grooved tyres to reduce grip, and therefore cornering speeds. That said, there are still some that hold the record for fastest lap, thanks to their powerful V10 engines.

Previous F1 average lap speed records

Which F1 era had the fastest cars?

Of the 24 circuits on the current calendar, most lap records are still held by cars from the previous two generations (2018-2021 and 2022-2025). The pattern is the same every rule set: it starts slower than the one it replaced, then claws pace back as teams learn the regulations. 2025 was the peak of the last cycle, and it’s likely the current era of cars will follow the same trend.

Lap records for every 2025 F1 circuit

What is the highest ever top speed of an F1 car?

Juan Pablo Montoya holds the highest top speed for an F1 car at a race weekend, set during the 2005 Italian Grand Prix. The Colombian led the race from pole and recorded his second win of the ’05 season with McLaren-Mercedes. During the race, his MP4-20 was clocked through the speed trap at 231.52mph (372.6km/h)

That record has been beaten albeit unofficially. Williams claimed that data from Valtteri Bottas’s car said the Finn achieved a top speed of 234.9mph (378km/h) during practice for the 2016 European Grand Prix.

Where do the 2026 cars fit in? 

The fastest ever top speed in 2026 currently belongs to Audi‘s Gabriel Bortoleto, who clocked 223.694mph (360km/h) at round 7 in Barcelona, which is still almost 8mph short of  Montoya’s all-time record from 2005. The fastest top speed in the 2026 Italian GP was achieved by Sergio Perez’s Cadillac at 218.101mph (351km/h).

The fastest F1 car (sort of)

A 2006 Honda holds the record for the fastest an F1 car has ever gone, but there are a fair few caveats involved with the car in question.

A record attempt by Honda with its 2006 RA106 in the hands of former FIA Medical Car driver Alan van der Merwe took a specially built Honda F1 car to the Bonneville Salt Flats and into the record books.

While the car largely resembled its standard Monza-spec counterpart, the record-setting car was fitted with an unrestricted V10 engine, a stability fin replacing the typical rear wing and bespoke tyres to deal with the salt flats.

The 246.908mph (397.360km/h) run stands as the fastest speed ever recorded by a Formula 1 car, just shy of Honda’s 400km/h goal with the project. During testing, van der Merwe reached 256.753mph (413.205km/h). Unfortunately, he couldn’t replicate it on the return run, missing out on an even faster record.