Formula 1 has always been at the cutting edge of precision engineering, but an example of just how far this has advanced can be found by comparing today’s cars with a model that was driven by the great racers of the past.
A Mercedes Formula 1 car built in 1954 and driven by 1955 champion Juan Manual Fangio and Briton Stirling Moss, has just made headlines after being sold at auction for a price equivalent to nearly £43 million, the highest ever figure for any F1 car sold at auction.
In its day, it was the greatest thing on two wheels, just as Fangio will go down as one of the greatest drivers. But the contrast between what was possible then and now is eye-opening.
For example, in the car’s final race, Moss used it to set the fastest lap at the 1955 Italian Grand Prix of two minutes and 46 seconds. By contrast, in 2024 the fastest lap in the same race was one minute and 21 seconds by Lando Norris. Even if one allows for changes to the course, the slowest of all the fastest laps in any race (Azerbaijan) was a minute faster.
This should come as no surprise, of course. The time of Fangio and Moss was an age in which F1 was a new sport.
In 1955, there was still two years to go before the first space satellite could be launched and the first working computer had only been developed a few years before, a far cry from today with the instantly available telemetry data, with up to 35 MB being generated by each car in a race.
This data matters. It is not just technological prowess that has made cars more aerodynamic, engines more powerful or tyres more durable. It is the fact the data analysis enables these engineering improvements to be assessed and calibrated with levels of precision that were never possible back in the day.
Undoubtedly, the 1954 Mercedes is a wonderful car and carries with it a rich piece of motorsport history. But the contrast between it and today’s cars shows just how much more advanced engineering has become.