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26 October 2026 12:59 AM
From a 1,000-horsepower hybrid engine to wings that change shape mid-lap, here is what is inside the F1 car and how it compares with a road car.
CN Quick Facts
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Class: Formula One (F1) 2026-specification car
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Power unit: 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrid; roughly 540 hp from the combustion engine plus roughly 470 hp from the electric motor, for over 1,000 hp combined
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Power split: About 50% combustion, 50% electric
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Minimum weight: About 768 kg, including the driver
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Size: About
5,500mm long, 1,900 mm wide, 3,400 mm wheelbase
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Fuel: 100% sustainable fuel
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Aerodynamics: Active aero with Corner Mode and Straight Mode; Overtake Mode replaces the Drag Reduction System (DRS)
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Tyres: Pirelli, 18-inch wheels
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Top speed: Well over 300 km/h
This topic was modified 2 weeks ago by CarNews Team
26 October 2026 11:29 AM
What Is Inside the F1 Car?
Inside the F1 car is one of the most advanced racing machines on the planet: a carbon-fibre shell wrapped around a hybrid power unit, a gearbox, a battery, a cooling system and a cockpit designed to keep one driver safe at speeds above 300 km/h. Nothing is there for comfort, and almost every part has been designed to do two jobs at once.
26 October 2026 11:30 AM
How Powerful is the 2026 F1 Power Unit?
The 2026 F1 power unit combines a 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 petrol engine with a powerful electric motor. The two now produce roughly equal amounts of power. Reported figures put the combustion engine at just under 540 hp and the electric motor at around 470 hp, which adds up to more than 1,000 hp when both are working at full power.
26 October 2026 11:39 AM
How Does an F1 Car Compare With a Road Car?
If you compare an F1 car with a typical family car you would see on Nairobi's Thika Road, the difference is huge. The numbers below are approximate, to give a sense of scale.
The biggest difference isn't power, but the power-to-weight ratio and downforce. An F1 car has roughly five to ten times the power of a typical family car while weighing about half as much. At high speed, its wings and floor push it onto the road with a force greater than its own weight, which in theory would let it drive upside down on a tunnel roof.
26 October 2026 11:46 AM
Who Would Win: A Rally1 Car or A Formula One Car?
It depends entirely on the surface. On a smooth circuit, the F1 car wins by a huge margin, and on a rough Kenyan gravel stage, the Rally1 car wins because the F1 car cannot run there at all. The two have never raced head-to-head in an official contest, so this is a thought experiment based on how each car is built.
Rally1 is the top class of the World Rally Championship (WRC), and these are the cars that tackle Safari Rally Kenya. The current hybrid-era generation is in its final season in 2026.
On paper, the F1 car has more than three times the power-to-weight ratio of a Rally1 car.
Both cars are the best at what they were built to do. Rally1 cars are designed to be fast on any surface; F1 cars are designed to be the fastest on one perfect surface, which is why Rwanda is building a purpose-built circuit for F1 to race in Africa.