The difference in size between older F1 cars and modern F1 cars is leaving people astonished

Put older F1 cars next to the current ones, and the difference isn’t just apparent, it smacks you in the face.

A Reddit post did exactly that, lining the two eras up to showcase just how different they were.

Fans expected more power, more aero tricks, and more tech – not cars that look like they’ve been stretched in Photoshop.

Now everyone’s trying to figure out when and why exactly they changed so much.

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Why modern F1 cars have become so shockingly big

The older chassis looks tiny next to the modern F1’s full-width stance, and that contrast set off thousands of comments on Reddit. 

Some fans were amused, some nostalgic, and others just stunned at how much longer and wider the current machines had become.

And most people agreed on the core reason.

That reason? Aero.

Not a flaw – just the natural result of teams chasing downforce.

Longer floors generate more grip, so teams extended the wheelbase year after year. 

One commenter even noted that modern gearboxes could act like ‘meter-long spacers,’ built purely to stretch the car for aerodynamic real estate.

Wider tires also added to the footprint, giving cars a planted, aggressive look that’s become a signature of the current era.

Older cars were much lighter and incredibly sharp on direction changes, which is why fans describe their agility with so much affection. 

But that doesn’t mean the new generation isn’t as good – just different, and shaped by wildly advanced design priorities.

When did this change happen?

A deeper dive pointed to the late ’90s as the turning point, when teams discovered that long-wheelbase cars were more stable.

It’s a trend often linked to Adrian Newey’s MP4-13. 

From there, the aero race snowballed. 

Floors grew, packaging changed, tires expanded, and by 2017 the supersized silhouette was essentially set.

If future regulations dial some of that back, we might see a new middle ground: modern aero, modern safety, and a footprint that sits somewhere between the two.

But only time will tell.

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