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💥 Why F1 Cars Lose Speed at the End of a Straight — Even at Full Throttle?!

  • Writer: Racing Statistics
    Racing Statistics
  • May 9
  • 2 min read

Wait… how can an F1 car slow down even when the driver is fully flooring it? Welcome to the fascinating world of 'clipping' — a hidden performance trade-off that happens during races, especially at the end of long straights.


⚙️ What is Clipping?


Clipping refers to a situation where an F1 car’s power output suddenly drops — even though the driver is still at full throttle. The result? The car actually starts to decelerate, not because of braking or lift-off, but due to power cutting out at the top end of the straight.

Check out Dirty Air Analysis for each race in 2025 season and more of our data work!


🧠 Here’s How It Works with Full Throttle:


A modern F1 power unit (PU) produces around 1000 horsepower, split like this:

  • 840hp from the internal combustion engine (ICE)

  • 160hp from the ERS (Energy Recovery System)

But during the race, it's not all about blasting 1000hp all the time. Battery management is everything.


🔋 ERS Deployment Strategy


The ERS is programmed smartly by the engineers to maximize efficiency:

  1. 🟢 Early Deployment: Maximum electric power is used at the start of the straight — where it has the biggest impact on acceleration.

  2. 🔴 Late Clipping: As the car approaches top speed, the ERS reduces or stops deploying power. In some cases, it even starts recharging — which means it’s absorbing energy and slowing the car down slightly.



    Race car with "Oracle" and "Mobil" logos on track. Graph shows speed loss at full throttle. Text highlights issue with acceleration.
    Credit to Formula Data Analysis for the image

    Check out Formula Data Analysis if you like this kind of data!


📉 From 1000hp to Just 680hp?


Yes — the moment the ERS switches from boost mode to harvest mode, power output drops from ~1000hp to just ~840hp… and sometimes even further down to ~680hp if the ERS is actively recharging.

So despite the driver keeping the throttle fully open, the car’s acceleration becomes negative. You might even see the speed drop slightly on the telemetry!


📊 The Data Behind It


Graph showing F1 clipping on a straight. Red line for acceleration, cyan for total power, magenta for ERS. Distance in meters.

If you look at onboard data:


  • 🟩 Throttle stays at 100%

  • 🔴 Acceleration (red line) starts decreasing near the end of the straight

  • ERS switches from power delivery to harvesting


The car is still efficient, but it’s no longer gaining speed.


🏎️ Why Not Just Use Full ERS All the Way?


Because there's only a limited amount of ERS energy available per lap — so teams have to budget it wisely. Using all 160hp from the ERS at once would drain the battery too quickly.

Also, deploying early gives better returns: the extra speed gained at lower speeds means more distance is covered at a higher speed, which is a net gain.


Check out Dirty Air Analysis and more of our work!


💬 TL;DR


Clipping is when an F1 car starts to slow down at the end of a straight because the battery stops helping and starts recharging. It’s all about balancing power and energy recovery to stay fast throughout the lap.


Now the next time you see a car suddenly plateau in speed on the straight — you’ll know what’s really going on. 😎


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