Grand Prix cars and the cutting edge technology that constitute them produce an unprecedented combination of outright speed and quickness for the drivers. Every F1 car on the grid is capable of going from 0 to 160 km/h (100 mph) and back to 0 in less than five seconds. During a demonstration at the Silverstone circuit in Britain, an F1 McLaren-Mercedes car driven by David Coulthard gave a pair of Mercedes-Benz street cars a head start of seventy seconds, and was able to beat the cars to the finish line from a standing start. As well as being fast in a straight line, F1 cars also have incredible cornering ability. Grand Prix cars can negotiate corners at significantly higher speeds than other racing cars because of the intense levels of grip and downforce. Cornering speed is so high that Formula One drivers have strength training routines just for the neck muscles . Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya claims to be able to perform 300 reps of 50 pounds with his neck. Since most tracks are clockwise, most drivers have the neck muscles built up on one side of their neck, thus making counter-clockwise tracks (such as Imola, Istanbul Park and Interlagos) a much more testing race than even the high speed Monza or the tight and narrow Monaco. The combination of light weight (605 kg in race trim), power (950 bhp with the 3.0 L V10, 730 bhp (544 kW) with the 2007 regulation 2.4 L V8), aerodynamics, and ultra-high performance tyres is what gives the F1 car its performance figures. The principal consideration for F1 designers is acceleration, and not simply top speed. Acceleration is not just linear forward acceleration, but three types of acceleration can be considered for an F1 car's, and all cars' in general, performances.

The 2006 F1 cars have a power-to-weight ratio of 1,250 hp (932 kW)/tonne (0.9 kW/kg). Theoretically this would allow the car to reach 100 km/h (62 mph) in less than 1 second. However the massive power cannot be converted to motion at low speeds due to traction loss, and the usual figure is 2 seconds to reach 100 km/h (62 mph). After about 130 km/h (81 mph) traction loss is minimal due to the combined effect of the car moving faster and the downforce, hence the car continues accelerating at a very high rate. The figures are (for the 2006 Renault R26):

0 to 100 km/h (62 mph): 1.7 seconds

0 to 200 km/h (124 mph): 3.8 seconds

0 to 300 km/h (186 mph): 8.6 seconds

• Figures may alter slightly depending on the aerodynamic setup.

The acceleration figure is usually 1.45 g (14.25 m/s²) up to 200 km/h (124 mph), which means the driver is pushed back in the seat with 1.45 times his bodyweight.

The carbon brakes in combination with the aerodynamics produces truly remarkable braking forces. The deceleration force under braking is usually 4 g (39 m/s²), and can be as high as 5-6 g when braking from extreme speeds, for instance at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit or at Indianapolis. Here the aerodynamic drag actually helps, and can contribute as much as 1.0 g of braking force, which is the equivalent of the brakes on most sports cars. In other words, if the throttle is let go, the F1 car will slow down under drag at the same rate as most sports cars do with braking, at least at speeds above 150 km/h (93 mph). The drivers do not utilise engine or compression braking, although it may seem this way. The only reason they change down gears prior to entering the corner is to be in the correct gear for maximum acceleration on the exit of the corner.

There are three companies who manufacture brakes for Formula One. They are Hitco, (based in the US, part of the SGL Carbon Group), Brembo in Italy and Carbone Industrie of France. Whilst Hitco manufacture their own carbon/carbon, Brembo sources theirs from Honeywell, and Carbone Industrie purchases their carbon from Messier Bugatti.

Carbon/Carbon is a short name for carbon fibre reinforced carbon. This means carbon fibres strengthening a matrix of carbon, which is added to the fibres by way of matrix deposition (CVI or CVD) or by pyrolosis of a resin binder.

F1 brakes are 278 mm (10.9 in) in diameter and a maximum of 28 mm (1.1 in) thick. The carbon/carbon brake pads are actuated by 6-piston opposed calipers provided by Akebono, AP Racing or Brembo. The calipers are aluminium alloy bodied with titanium pistons. The regulation limits the modulus of the caliper material to 80GPa in order to prevent teams using exotic, high specific stiffness materials for example Beryllium. Titanium pistons save weight, but also have a low thermal conductivity, reducing the heat flow into the brake fluid.