The Italian Grand Prix 2024 is 1 km/h away from the fastest F1 race of all time and it’s a real performance
The 2024 Italian Grand Prix offered a show worthy of the legendary Monza circuit with dizzying speeds and a memorable performance by Charles Leclerc. Just 1 km/h away from the record for the fastest race in history, the Monegasque came very close to making history.
Monza once again confirmed its nickname of the temple of speed with an outstanding performance from Charles Leclerc, who flirted with a record that is 20 years old. The 2024 edition was indeed raced at an average speed of 246.680 km/h, only 1 km/h less than the fastest race in Formula 1 history, set in 2003 by Michael Schumacher with an average speed of 247.585 km/h.
Differences in strategy between generations
After 53 laps of the Grand Prix, Leclerc finishes only 21.3 seconds behind the time set by Schumacher during his victory in 2003. The importance of this difference lies in the refueling strategies. In 2003, cars were running with lighter weights over longer periods, which allowed for consecutive fast laps and maintaining a higher average pace. In 2024, with heavier cars and no fuel refueling, the racing approach is radically different.
The F1 cars in 2003 initially weighed 600 kg, to which fuel had to be added. With strategies ranging from 15 to 35 laps, the F1 cars carried about 30 kg of fuel at the time. The single-seater therefore weighed 630 kg.
In 2024, Formula 1 cars weigh 798 kgs without fuel and load the full tank of fuel for the entire duration of the Grand Prix, without authorized refueling. So, a Formula 1 car in 2024 weighs around 950 kgs at the start. The weight difference is significant: over 300 kgs between 2024 and 2003. Despite this, the performances are now very close.
To read also: The weight of F1 cars will increase in 2025
A blazing speed of qualification.
The performances of the 2024 single-seaters in qualifying have shown the huge technological progress made since the beginning of the hybrid era. Current cars are faster than ever on a flying lap, thanks to more advanced aerodynamics and improvements to the power unit. However, these advances do not necessarily translate into the race where tire management, fuel, and energy play a more significant role.
Leclerc, despite being handicapped by these modern constraints, still managed to fully exploit the resurfacing of the circuit. He was on average 2.44 seconds faster per lap than in 2023, while adopting a medium-hard strategy similar to the previous year.
Could Leclerc beat Schumacher’s record?
The answer lies in very little, since if he had been only 0.4 seconds faster per lap, he would have broken this speed record, a mark that seemed almost untouchable. However, with a strategy and race conditions more challenging than those of the Schumacher era, the feat remains within reach, although still out of reach.
Current cars are more complex to manage over the course of a Grand Prix, requiring compromises between pure speed and energy management. While they may dominate in qualifying, the race itself demands a more delicate balance. Track conditions, tire management strategies, and increased aerodynamic load make it difficult to break historical records set in very different conditions.
