F1 versus dragster

It's something that I've always wondered.... would those dedicated funnycar dragsters with huge wheels outdrag an F1 on the quarter mile?

I'm pretty certain that the F1 has the advantage on handling/brakes, and it might even be faster for the full mile because of its aerodynamics, but would it beat one of those huge engine-on-wheels on the 1/4 mile?

Now this is something that Top Gear or Fifth Gear should do, hehe...

The dragster should easily win, they have more way more HP and are designed to go fast in a straightline. F1 cars are more designed for handling and braking and have extremely high drag coefficients.

so hard to say eh
since the power and acceleration data of F1 cars are almost always classified

i think a dragster can win the 1/4 mile
but thats all it can win against the F1

also they always tune the F1 cars for different tracks
so they can probably tune the F1 to be a super dragster too
maybe F1 can win if they specifically tune it for straightline accel and use a specific fuel mixture for it too

a drag car would kill it, no question.
f1 might put up some fight up at first...but after that, all the f1 would see is a big tailpipe..

Each car is amazing at what it does.

A Formula1 car would be slaughtered at a Top Fuel dragster's dance of the 1320. It would basically be a footrace versus an invalid kind of result... not a race at all.

A Top Fuel class dragster can cover a 1/4 mile under 4.5 seconds hitting the finish line at 535kph or so... 0-535 in 4.4 seconds!

Then you have the rocket dragsters which are even faster!

I remember hearing of a story where a Top Fuel dragster driver had his eyeballs pop out of his head, being strung along only by the optic nerve conduit, upon parachute deployment... don't know if that was an urban hickville myth but yikes!

It would be no contest. A top fuel dragster would be at 100mph in about 1 second.

Think about what each is designed to do. A dragster is primarily designed to go in a straight line over a short distance as fast as possible. Everything else is secondary.

An F1 car is designed to for speed, handling, braking, endurance, etc.

Should be an easy dragster win... HP rating on those is 5000+ while F1 cars are generally assumed to be around 1000 HP. Not to mention the big block, big displacement torque of the top fuel engine compared to the small displacement F1 cars.

Errr...you guys do know that F1 cars are limited because of FIA regulations right....they're going to de-tune it some more next season with the v8 restiction...1 amoung many restrictions they have set through out the years.

Didn't shumaucher race againest a F-14 an win?

Originally Posted by waitin4BOOST

Errr...you guys do know that F1 cars are limited because of FIA regulations right....they're going to de-tune it some more next season with the v8 restiction...1 amoung many restrictions they have set through out the years.

Didn't shumaucher race againest a F-14 an win?

The engines are not limited in terms of Power, but only size ... they used 3.0L V10's till this year but will start using 2.4L V8s in 2006 ... Schumacher did race against an Euro Fighter with his F2004 and won but the fighter had to start and stay on ground (couldnot take off) so that limited its speed ... but it was still amazing how close the race was .. btw it was done on a wet track, so the F1 car could've gone even faster

Dragster - not even a contest. I'm guessing they weigh about the same, but the dragster is purpose built to accelerate. More traction with those badass tires too.

Of course, the times would be fairly close as compared to 1 lap around a road track. I'm guessing the F1 could do 10 laps of Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to 1 laps by the dragster... and I may be way understating the difference...

Schumy did race a jet and it was close at the end. Far less inertia in the F1 car. We're talking 1,500lbs vs 15-20,000lbs! Initial traction advantage to the F1 too.

The only advantage a F1 car would have over a top fuel dragster would be in the rain or with cold tires.

Even then the dragster would pull away after 200 feet.

Originally Posted by Kenneth

The only advantage a F1 car would have over a top fuel dragster would be in the rain or with cold tires.

Even then the dragster would pull away after 200 feet.

except the bridgestones
in the cold, they lose traction easily, so says schumacher lol

Drag race? Will they let the pit crew come out and give it a push for the first 3 metres?

Ever notice how slow an F1 actually launches from a dead stop?

Umm... shall we put ANY other car beside that F1 car at the start? You might be surprised at their starting acceleration. Just looks slow... Amazing what a little launch control will do. Though can they still have traction control? Can't recall...

Originally Posted by mudmojo

I remember hearing of a story where a Top Fuel dragster driver had his eyeballs pop out of his head, being strung along only by the optic nerve conduit, upon parachute deployment... don't know if that was an urban hickville myth but yikes!

Yikes... I do know that most of the drag drivers can't see properly... the vibrations are huge, and they're locked into a seat. It's all they can do to keep it straight, and go towards the light...

The real trick to remember is that the vehicle is held on the track by 1 gravity or 1G, acclerate any faster and the wheels break free (of course special sticky tires change the equation a bit) so we're not looking at eye ripping forces here.