How Valtteri Bottas recorded the fastest speed in Formula 1 history at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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A number of speed records were broken during the 2025 F1 season, but one remained untouched.

Max Verstappen set the all-time fastest lap record in Monza, with the Dutchman setting an impressive time of 1:18.792, beating Hamilton’s previous record by 0.97 seconds.

What Verstappen and co. were unable to do though, was break the record set by Valtteri Bottas in 2016 for fastest speed in the sport’s history.

Ahead of the Baku’s maiden grand prix in 2016, track designer Hermann Tilke told Speedweek: “A unique selling point of this track will be that it is the fastest street circuit in the world. We’re easily expecting speeds around 340 km/h”, although Bottas’ performance far exceeded his expectations.

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Read now: The best Azerbaijan Grand Prix stats you should know as McLaren target impressive championship record

Valtteri Bottas sets the fastest recorded speed in F1 history

Bottas made history at the 2016 European Grand Prix when he set the fastest speed ever recorded in Formula 1 history. The record came during the Finn’s final season with Williams before he moved to Mercedes the following year, and it has remained unbeaten since.

During qualifying for the grand prix in Baku, Bottas was riding behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull between Turn 16 and Turn 1, which gave him a tow along the 2.2km piece of track.

The Williams FW38 had been set up for low drag, and the flat-out nature of the final corners meant the Finn was able to show the true potential of the car.

The speed trap at the start of the main straight initially recorded that Bottas had hit 336.1km/h (227.48 mph), but with a significant distance before the first braking zone and a great slipstream from the Red Bull, he went even faster.

Williams’ trackside engineers then confirmed that Bottas hit a record 378 km/h (234.88 mph) before lifting the throttle into the first corner.

The impressive speeds broke the record of 372.6km/h (231.522 mph) set by Juan Pablo Montoya in the McLaren MP4-20 at Monza.

Following the record achievement, Bottas joked: “Faster than fast, quicker than quick. I am Lightning Valtteri”

Will the 2026 cars now beat the Formula 1 speed record?

With the wider, heavier Formula 1 cars in 2025, it was always unlikely that any driver would be able to beat Bottas’ speed record at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. However, things could change in 2026, when the sport sees a new set of regulation changes.

The 2026 Regulations will see smaller, lighter cars, which are expected to be faster than the current generation on the grid. Toto Wolff has shared that Mercedes simulations suggest the upcoming regulation change could see next year’s car competing for the F1 speed record.

Wolff had previously told Auto Motor und Sport: “When the full power is deployed, we will scratch the 400km/h limit.” before describing his comment as “semi-sarcastic” ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Mercedes team principal was asked by Jon Noble if the numbers were correct during the Zandvoort press conference, with Wolff replying: “Everybody’s talking those engines down, so I had to figure out – is there anything positive?

“And that is, if you were to deploy – obviously it sounds sarcastic – but if you were to deploy all the energy on a single straight, you could make those cars go 400 kilometres an hour. I don’t know if somebody got afraid by it, but you could. But there wouldn’t be much electric energy left for the few other corners on a circuit.”