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Bugatti Chiron Drag Races a 2011 F1 Car, It's Closer Than You Would Think

This could very well be the drag race to end all drag races. Because how often do you get to see an F1 machine lining up next to a Bugatti Chiron of all cars? Two of the fastest machines mankind has ever built, and a quarter-mile (402 meters) stretch of tarmac ahead of them. That is the challenge for today.
Bugatti Chiron Drag Races F1 Car 19 photos
Photo: Car Wow
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Predicting this race can be easy or it can be difficult, depending on how much you know about cars and drag racing. The Chiron may be capable of hitting 273 mph (439 kph), but it does require a fairly long acceleration zone to achieve that result. Looking at the F1 machine, this is a 2011 World Championship winner, the RedBull RB7. Being a 2011 model, that means it's powered by a naturally aspirated 2.4-liter V8, built by Honda.

With that kind of powertrain, this thing is sending some 750 horsepower to the rear wheels, all while weighing just 1,433 lbs (650 kg). The Chiron comes with an 8.0-liter W16 engine, which churns out double the power of the F1 car, but at 4,398 lbs (1,995 kg), its power to weight ratio is considerably worse than that of its opponent. Still, the Chiron does have AWD and launch control to top it off. But will that be enough to have it cross the finish line in 1st place?

You can't just have anyone driving the RB7 because most people won't even be able to set it in motion, or perhaps even start it up. So they've brought in David Coulthard for the task, and that makes the RB7 even more menacing than it was at the beginning of this challenge. Driving the Chiron is Shaz, who organizes a road-going rally for fast cars, called the Pulse Rally.

Bugatti Chiron drag races F1 Car
Photo: CarWow
Before starting the race we get to compare exhaust notes, and while the Chiron sounds like a motorized version of Darth Vader, the RB7 already feels like it's going to win no matter what. As soon as the race starts, the F1 car jumps ahead of the game, as expected. Even though the Bugatti is also being used as its maximum potential, it is slowly being left behind. Even so, the gap doesn't seem to be that big as they cross the finish line.

After a quick inspection of the RB7, they have another go at it, in hopes that this time the Chiron will somehow manage to do a better job at keeping up. Granted, we get to see a better start from the Bugatti this time, and there are very few cars on the planet that could do a better job at racing the F1 machine. But the result remains unchanged.

Going for a third run, we see some more wheelspin coming from the Redbull race car, which gives the Bugatti an extra fighting chance. But David Coulthard is unphased and crosses the finish line in 1st place once again. It needed 9.2 seconds to achieve the result, and the Bugatti was quite close behind, with a time of 9.6 seconds! There's a fourth run coming up, and this time they're going for a rolling race format, starting at 50 mph (80 kph).

But this time the gap is even greater than before, at least up until the quarter-mile (402 meters) finish line. But they decide to keep on going, in an attempt to do run the full mile (1.6 km). As the Bugatti goes past 200 mph (321 kph), the gap starts getting smaller, and finally manages to score a win! For the last test of the day, both cars get up to 100 mph (160 kph) and then engage in braking to a complete stop. And this can only go one way, as I doubt there is anything on the planet that can stop faster than an F1 car.

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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
Dragos Chitulescu profile photo

The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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