Indycar vs. F1: What’s The Difference Between Indycar And F1?

Indycar and F1 are the two most popular open-wheel racing series in the world. But which one is better? We compare the two series, looking at their history, cars, drivers, and tracks. Read more here.
Indycar vs. F1: 6 Key Differences, Pros & Cons, Examples

Indycar vs. F1 are the two most popular open-wheel series in motorsport. Both motorsports have an almost similar shape and look from the outside, which makes it confusing for most people to differentiate between them. The main difference between Indycar and F1 is that F1 represents the top racing technology which invests millions of dollars in development each year, while Indycar.

Let’s take a closer look at F1 vs. Indycar

GeographyF1 is a global series, while Indycar staged exclusively in the United States
SpeedF1 cars are considered to have a faster accelerator
UnpredictableIndycar has been said to be a more unpredictable series than F1
CostF1 is a bit more expensive than Indycar

What Is An Indycar?

What Is An Indycar?
If we look at Indycar meaning: It is a motorsport series which races primarily in America, with just one race in Canada. There have been various races of Indycar in Australia, Brazil, and Japan as well, but those were not part of the regular season. In 2022, there were 17 races of Indycar in the USA, at Detroit and Texas. Featuring 24 to 25 drivers. Some of the drivers had different color schemes according to every race. The tyres were supplied by Firestone and feature different dry-weather compounds. Wet tyres were also available for road courses and streets. Indycars have a twin turbocharger system, and their engines have a capability of between 550-700 BHP. Tracks of IndyCar start at less than 1 mile, and if it is a low speedway, 0.8 miles in length. It goes all the way to over 4 miles with the Road America track.

If we look at Indycar meaning: It is a motorsport series which races primarily in America, with just one race in Canada. There have been various races of Indycar in Australia, Brazil, and Japan as well, but those were not part of the regular season. In 2022, there were 17 races of Indycar in the USA, at Detroit and Texas. Featuring 24 to 25 drivers. Some of the drivers had different color schemes according to every race. The tyres were supplied by Firestone and feature different dry-weather compounds. Wet tyres were also available for road courses and streets. Indycars have a twin turbocharger system, and their engines have a capability of between 550-700 BHP. Tracks of IndyCar start at less than 1 mile, and if it is a low speedway, 0.8 miles in length. It goes all the way to over 4 miles with the Road America track.

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What Is F1?

What Is F1?
If we look at F1 meaning: It is a global sport which has its races taking place on 5 different continents every year. It has 23 races on the regular calendar, compared to the 17 races of the Indycar. Formula 1 engines have a single turbocharger system and a capability close to 1000BHP. Its brakes are made up of carbon fiber as standard, and it has eight forward gears. And there are some limits to a race-worthy track. It has a limit from ( 91.7 miles) km to around 7 km (4.3 miles ). The F1 series has 10 different designs for all of its 10 teams. These designs used the engine supplied by Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull or Powertrains. In 2021, there were 20 drivers from 10 teams which competed in 23 races around the world. And the majority of them were purpose-built road courses.

If we look at F1 meaning: It is a global sport which has its races taking place on 5 different continents every year. It has 23 races on the regular calendar, compared to the 17 races of the Indycar. Formula 1 engines have a single turbocharger system and a capability close to 1000BHP. Its brakes are made up of carbon fiber as standard, and it has eight forward gears. And there are some limits to a race-worthy track. It has a limit from ( 91.7 miles) km to around 7 km (4.3 miles ). The F1 series has 10 different designs for all of its 10 teams. These designs used the engine supplied by Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull or Powertrains. In 2021, there were 20 drivers from 10 teams which competed in 23 races around the world. And the majority of them were purpose-built road courses.

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6 Key Differences Between Indycar and F1

ComponentsIndycarF1
Global AffairsIndycar is a motorsport series which races primarily in America, with just one race in Canada. There have been various races of Indycar in Australia, Brazil, and Japan as well, but those were not part of the regular season.F1 is a global sports, which races take place on 5 different continents every year. It has 23 races on the regular calendar, compared to the 17 races of the Indycar.
TurbochargerIndycars have a twin turbocharger system, and their engines have a capability of between 550-700 BHP.Formula 1 engines have a single turbocharger system and a capability close to 1000BHP. 
BrakesThe brakes of Indycar are made up of steel for most of the races, and it also uses six forward gears.The brakes of Formula 1 are made up of carbon fibre as standard, and it has eight forward gears.
Track LengthTracks of IndyCar start at less than 1 mile, and if it is a low speedway, 0.8 miles in length. It goes all the way to over 4 miles with the Road America track.In F1, there are some limits to a race-worthy track. It has a limit from ( 91.7 miles) km to around 7 km (4.3 miles ) 
DriversIn 2022, there were 17 races of Indycar in the USA, at Detroit and Texas. Featuring 24 to 25 drivers.In 2021, 20 drivers from 10 teams competed in 23 races around the world.
CarsIn the Indycar series, each team has to choose one from Honda or Chevrolet engine, which has universal aero packaging and Dallara Chassis.The F1 series has 10 different designs for all of its 10 teams. These designs used the engine supplied by Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull or Powertrains.

Indycar vs. F1 Similarities

  • Whether it is Indycar or F1, both are open-wheel motorsports. The wheels of both Indycar and F1 are not covered by fenders.
  • Both of these cars look in the same ways, race on road courses, and depend upon high levels of downforces for high speed.
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Indycar vs. F1 Examples

Indycar Examples

  • Chevrolet
  • Honda

F1 Examples

  • McLaren. Oscar Piastri
  • Mercedes
  • Alfa Romeo. Guanyu Zhou

Indycar vs. F1 Pros  and Cons

Indycar Pros and Cons

Indycar Pros and Cons

Pros of Indycar

  • One of the good things about the IndyCar series is that it has a more rewarding scoring system than F1. Because in Indycar, you can still get some points if you finish last.
  • Indycar is budget-friendly; it does not mean that they are cheap, but they cost less than Formula 1.

 Cons of Indycar

  • Indycar has always experimented with the standing start, and the flying ones remained dominant, and it will be that way.
  • Indycar introduces night races before F1, but their night races are only on oval tracks and don’t do them on roads and streets like F1.

F1 Pros and Cons

F1 Pros and Cons

Pros of F1

  • F1 is better in night races than Indycar because F1 can have night races on streets and course roads as well.
  • Rain races are also good for F1, as you can feel it more in it. As weather races are more common in F1 now, the series is handling it in much better ways.

Cons of F1

  • Some people don’t like the F1 Rewarding Scoring system because, according to their system, no matter if you finish the race in 11th or 20th, you will get zero points.
  • F1 costs much more, compared to the Indycar, as even smaller ones are hundreds of millions of dollars.

Comparison Chart

Indycar and F1 are the two most popular open-wheel racing series in the world. But which one is better? We compare the two series, looking at their history, cars, drivers, and tracks. Read more here.

Comparison Video

The Differences Between F1 and Indycar (Cars, Drivers, Sensation…)

Conclusion

Indycar and F1 are the two most popular open-wheel series in motorsport. Both of these cars look in the same ways, race on road courses, and depend upon high levels of downforces for high speed. But if we talk about Indycar vs. F1 differences, both have a lot of different features. The main one is their turbocharger. Indycars have a twin turbocharger system, and their engines have a capability of between 550-700 BHP. F1 engines have a single turbocharger system, and they have a capability close to 1000BHP. If we compare Indycar versus F1 cost, the F1 is much more expensive than Indycars, as the smaller F1 can cost up to 100-200 million dollars.

Alex Stantor
Alex Stantor

Alex Stantor is a Sorbonne University (Paris, France) graduate in Philosophy and Data Analysis. Currently, he is an Author and Researcher at Difference 101, he writes articles/blog posts on topics such as "thinking differently" and "the importance of difference". Alex is a passionate advocate of diversity in the workplace and in companies, and diversity and inclusion in corporate communications. He currently lives in Brooklyn.

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