ON TRACK
↖ Stirling Moss in the W196 at Monaco in 1955
ON TRACK
In Grand Prix™ racing , the Monaco circuit is the one that has changed the least from its debut in 1929 until now . But in spite of changes in the past couple of decades to slow average speeds down , this year the cars were still topping 180mph out of the Tunnel before braking for the Nouvelle chicane !
Here are the lap times of our three Mercedes , with the first two on an almost identical Monaco layout and Lewis ’ s record on a track of similar length but one that is very much tighter …
Track surface , kerbs and even track width in the Principality have changed considerably over the years , so no real meaningful direct comparison can be made between these three cars . But it is as close as you can get to a rough guide to race car and tyre development over the years !
W125 ( 1937 ) W196 ( 1954 ) W15 ( 2024 )
MONACO FASTEST LAPS |
Track length 1.976 miles Rudolf Caracciola 1.46.5 |
Track length 1.954 miles Juan Manuel Fangio 1.42.4 |
Track length 2.074 miles Lewis Hamilton 1.12.909 ( 2021 ) |
ENGINE |
Front mounted , Straight eight , 5660cc , Supercharged |
Front mounted , Straight eight , 2496cc , Naturally aspirated |
Mid-engine , longitudinally mounted , V6 , 1600cc , Turbocharged with hybrid system |
HORSEPOWER 592bhp 290bhp circa 1000bhp
DIMENSIONS |
Length 4200mm Width 1750mm Height 1200mm |
Length 4025mm Width 1625mm Height 1040mm |
Length > 5000mm Width 2000mm Height 970mm |
WEIGHT 750kg 835kg 798kg
POWER-TO-WEIGHT RATIO 789bhp per tonne 347bhp per tonne 1267bhp per tonne TRANSMISSION 4-speed manual 5-speed manual 8-speed semi-automatic
CHASSIS / BODY |
Chrome molybdenum tubular chassis with aluminium bodywork |
Tubular frame with aluminium body |
Carbon fibre composite monocoque |
TOP SPEED Approximately 200mph 186mph More than 230mph
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