Originally posted by: jpeyton
F1 cars have a high HP to torque ratio.
That's because they are small engines that have to rev very high to make horsepower.
Edit: an engine is basically an air pump. The way to make power is to burn more fuel. The way to burn more fuel is to get more air pumped through it so you can add more fuel and not be too rich.
If you have a small engine, the way to make more power is to rev it higher, thus moving more air/fuel mixture through the engine.
Or you can build a larger engine, which will naturally move more air/fuel mixture through at lower rpm, resulting in a lower HP peak and more torque.
Then you complicate matters by adding forced induction...super charger, turbo, nitrous.
All these items essentially do is force more air into the engine than it could suck in on its own. Basically, forced induction is a way of fooling the engine into acting like it's a larger cubic inch than it really is.