This Split-Screen Video Brilliantly Shows How F1 Cars Have Changed in the Last Decade

Formula One has always been entertaining, but it hasn’t always been this fast. Things happen quickly in F1 and not just on the track. Research and Development is constant in this billion dollar sport and teams will go experiment with just about anything to get a second advantage over their competition.

Over the last decade, there have been huge changes to these fast cars. The biggest difference is the switch from 2.4-liter V8 power to a 1.6-liter turbo V6 paired with a hybrid system. And it's this in combination with a thousand tweaks and improved materials and technologies that have also made them fast. A lot faster. To see exactly how much quicker an F1 car is today compared to a decade ago, watch this onboard video comparison between Felipe Massa in 2006 and Lewis Hamilton today. Hamilton, who races for Mercedes just set the lap record at the Suzuka circuit. The new time of 1:27.3 not only beat Massa’s long-standing record, it also secured him a spot in the Japanese Grand Prix.

Watch this video presented by Formula 1 YouTube channel who have put the two laps side by side in order to demonstrate how much faster F1 cars have become. It is amazing to see the racers handle the same course with such similar but at the same time almost completely different vehicles. Hamilton’s Mercedes-AMG is obviously grippier and allows him to get back to top speed faster after the corners. Check the video for yourself to notice all the slight differences.