Outside LIne: 2004 Formula 1 speeds over 350 kph at Silverstone, 2026 top speeds under 317 kph!
F1 Grand PrixWednesday, 08 July 2026 at 20:19
Nothing spotlights the fakeness of Formula 1 in its current dismal state more than the shitshow we saw at the 2026 British Grand Prix, where the most expensive, complex, anti-racing and limp-dicked power units in history are among the slowest ever around the iconic ultra-high-speed venue.
Long gone are the fully blown Formula 1 engines screeching to top speeds of 372.6 km/h (231.5 mph), as Juan Pablo Montoya did at Autodromo Nazionale Monza in 2005 at the wheel of a Mercedes-powered McLaren MP4-20. At Silverstone during that era, they were not going much slower, with top speeds north of 260 kph common for the time.
Ironically, Montoya is now Chief Shill for Formula Fake Pimp under Chief Stefano Domenicali's FOM slop, trying to polish the turd that is the current Formula 1 shitshow. Where LEGO karts get more airtime than the real racing, because there is simply no real racing going on. It's all formula fake.
I so wish for the honest Montoya to return, because the dude bullsh!tting on F1TV in ill-fitting AlphaTauri crapsacks is not the guy I once admired. Everything he says these days is so obviously fake; I wish someone would tell him what a arse he has become. Disrespect! Until the shill repents. But, I digress.
Reflecting on what I was forced to watch, the 'overtakes' are so fake, it pains me. Kimi Antonelli's breeze past Lewis Hamilton for the lead of the Sprint Race was obscene to behold. It's as if Lewis ran out of fuel, as Kimi whimpered by at a paltry 300kph, whereas at that point they'd be normally roaring down at 350 if not more, with slip streams and all that factored in. Then heavy on the brakes as they sweep through to the right. It was awesome.
This time the cars run out of breath by the time they hit the middle of the straight and potter around recharging for the next fake overtake. I really am out of more words to articulate how appalling this thing of ours has become.
Nigel Mansell top speed in 1987 at Silverstone faster than anyone in 2026
Fortunately, in this era of chaos and stupidity, Formula 1 veteran Peter Windsor has turned out to be a reality check for the sport. He articulated the British Grand Prix madness far better than I could when he spoke to Cameroon CC on YouTube: "...I was musing over the fact that you can now buy six road cars off the shelf in a showroom that are quicker in a straight line than Formula 1 cars were at Silverstone,
"It's unbelievable. I mean, there's Charles Leclerc leading the Grand Prix, and you think, 305 kilometres an hour down Hangar Straight. And this is a rhetorical question, by the way, so I'm not going to embarrass you, but you know what Jim Clark was doing in 1967? 167.92 mph (270 kph). It's absolutely bonkers.
"Nigel Mansell, the other day, was saying he was going to be staying in one of those, makeshift hotel things on Hangar Straight, exactly at the point where he took the lead from Nelson in '87. He was going quicker then than anybody went during the Grand Prix [this year] at that point. Can you believe it?
"What is Formula 1? Well, we knew. I guess they all knew, didn't they? That's why there were very few onboard soundbites on the world feed, and you didn't get much onboard audio either. I mean, the engine notes going through Turns 1, 2, and 3 were just abysmal.
Later in the conversation, Windsor tucked into teams and drivers complaining about lack of top speed: "Everybody was slow in top speed. It's just that some were even slower than others. Some were doing 305, some were doing 300, some were doing 298. It was just pathetic. It's like: who can go slowest around Silverstone in top speed? And that's what's wrong. All of this is rubbish."
Who is going to be fired for the 2026 Formula 1 fail?
For now there has been no accountability, for this manmade fiasco, in the buddy-buddy world of Formula 1 officialdom. Heads would roll in the corporate world had an amazing product been so pulverised by the greed of marketing insanity that prevails in this era of gobble up every buck you can, at whatever price. Wholesale soul selling.
Echoing my thoughts to a tee, Windsor provided an insight into an alternate reality had the sport not whored itself to the johns, aka the self-serving manufacturers, such as Dieselgate Scumbags in Chief, Volkswagen and their minions, Audi. That's like inviting the Ku Klux Klan to be part of your church choir.
Lamenting what we are forced to watch, Windsor painted this picture of what might've been for Formula 1 in 2026: "If they hadn't touched the regulations and all they'd done was go to a much more user-friendly fuel, which was environmentally sound and interesting. They would lots get all the oil company engineers putting these new fuels together, biofuels, the whole thing. All the emphasis on that, the public would be saying, 'Formula 1's mega.' Look what they're doing for fuel development. Isn't it brilliant?
"The racing would've been fabulous. The cars rock solid and reliable. If we kept the 2025 spec PU, then everything would be normal, and we wouldn't be in this situation. But they had to change everything and just put sticking plasters over it at the moment. When you get to a circuit like Silverstone or Spa, it's 'don't show this, don't show that, don't have this audio.'
"And the drivers are going around saying, 'I'm slow in a straight line. Well, you are. You're only doing 300 kilometres an hour. Hang on, the fastest guys are doing 305. What's that all about? When they're using different gears everywhere? When Isack Hadjar is taking and holding seventh out of the Copse, and [Red Bull teammate] Max Verstappen is getting eighth, identical race cars are doing almost identical lap times. What was that all about?" lamented Windsor.
Exactly! What was that all about? I could not have ranted better. Kudos to Peter Windsor for speaking his mind, and I hope the majority of our readers do too. Before you sign off or comment, contemplate the summary below.
Formula 1 top speeds at Silverstone by decade
- 1980s – Turbo Era: 310–320 km/h (192–199 mph) 1.5-litre turbo engines delivered huge power 1985 saw a record average pole speed by Keke Rosberg that stood for nearly 20 years
- 1.5-litre turbo engines delivered huge power. 1985 saw a record average pole speed by Keke Rosberg that stood for nearly 20 years
- 1990s – V10 Era: 320–330 km/h (199–205 mph) Powerful V10 engines Circuit changes and added chicanes reduced outright top speeds
- 2000s – V10 & V8 Era: 360–370 km/h (223–230 mph) Peak straight-line performance from high-revving engines Among the fastest Silverstone cars ever, despite the circuit's fast corners
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