The Differences Between an IndyCar and a F1 Car

Ironically, a lot of this is only relevant until... this Sunday. After Sunday, the F1 season is over, and 2026 cars will be very different.

2026 cars will have less downforce and less drag (closer to Indycar) but also "active" aerodynamics (elements on both the front and rear wings can flatten on-demand to reduce drag, or raise to produce more downforce) and a hybrid power unit closer to 50/50 split between ICE and electric horsepower than the current 85/15 split for F1 cars or 80/20 for Indycars.

F1 next year will probably be chaos because there are so many different aspects that teams may have gotten wrong in development.

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There are some inaccuracies though regardless. I am pretty sure that teams do not go through multiple sets of brake pads in a weekend. They last several races, no different than Indycar.

I think the cars reflect pretty well the intended ethos and "vibes" of both competitions. Indycar still feels a bit like "dudes racing cars" while F1 has become a corporate hi-tech extravaganza.

Both have their appeal, but I feel Indy produces better actual racing for the spectator despite being slower and less refined technically. I do watch both.

This is the last season with Renault as a F1 engine manufacturer. Their team (Alpine) will use Mercedes engine from 2026.

There will be many changes next year. Audi enters as manufacturer with its own team (they bought Sauber.) The two Red Bull teams will use their own Red Bull engine, with the help of Ford. Honda will power Aston Martin. The new Cadillac team will use Ferrari engines and build its own engine for 2028.

The table lists F1 cars as having "Carbon fiber brake calipers".

This is glaringly incorrect. All current brake calipers are machined from aluminum, specifically Aluminum-Lithium or Aluminum-Copper alloys. There is a rule denoting bulk elasticity modulus limit on brake calipers of 80 GPa, which was set just at that to allow the more exotic Lithium Aluminum alloys but to dis-allow Titanium alloys or anything else stiffer (There was experimentation with Titanium calipers in the past.)

Absolutely no calipers are made from composites, CF, graphite, or otherwise. Discs are Carbon-carbon.

The biggest difference that stood out to me was that the fuel compositions are almost exactly opposite; 85/15 ethanol/gasoline for Indy and 10/90 for F1.

I was able to find plenty of articles saying that next year F1 will move to a "100% sustainable fuel", but none that actually mentioned the composition. Is it likely to move closer to the make-up of the Indy fuel?

The reason these series always get compared is because Indy’s tight rules make it less compelling while F1’s more open rules make it less competitive.

WEC (and IMSA a bit) solve those problems but they have so many drivers and teams that it takes a lot of dedication to follow along.

In the end you end up wondering if your favorites could hack it in the WRC.

In the old Michel Vaillant comics the f1 and indy cars seem to be interchangeable, they compete in each other’s championships

Not sure if true given that it’s fiction, but they do seem to be based on reality

IndyCar is one of the coolest competitions on earth that nobody cares about. Not just the 500, which is amazing, but the full calendar schedule.

Its so interesting that the difference between Indy and F1 in terms of lap times is objectively marginal but subjectively extreme.

I would have guessed given the extreme cost difference between them there would have been a significant gap (like 30 seconds) but the fact that it’s only a few seconds difference is surprising.

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