Despite that fact that I eagerly awaited the start of the 2014 F1 season and monitored the media throughout the winter break, the Melbourne Grand Prix was actually a bit of a disappointment.
I had to watch the highlights on BBC1 on Sunday afternoon because I don’t have Sky. I had to negotiate with my wife and her visiting family to ignore them for an hour and a half to watch the TV on my own. I only mention these things to evidence my commitment to the sport.
When I reappeared to be asked if the viewing pleasure was great, I had to respond that I was underwhelmed, which was a shame given that I’d just been rather antisocial.
It wasn’t because Vettel and Hamilton had cars that weren’t reliable enough to get to the end of the race – it was because the sound of the cars was all wrong and somehow uninspiring.
The aggressive, distinctive and loud howling of the V8s has been replaced with a muted thrum augmented with much whistling of turbo chargers. I have written before that the bellow of a V8 is deeply satisfying, almost spiritual for a petrolhead; an F1 engine was the ultimate rip-snorting evolution of the beast. An F1 V8 had a noise that was exciting and assaulted the senses; the equivalent of a Motorhead concert in musical terms!
The new engine regulations for 2014 have seen the 2.4 V8 replaced with a 1.6 turbo assisted V6 supported by electrical energy recovery/boosting systems; the engineering challenges for the teams have been huge and the cost staggering. But from a personal perspective, the result is unfortunately something a lot duller. The grand prix was not without incident, breakdowns, crashes, safety cars and rule infractions but for me, it was less engaging than it should have been.
I never really appreciated just how important the noise was to the enjoyment of the F1 spectacle. Some sounds are so distinctive, like the Merlin engine in a Spitfire; you just know something very good is coming. And on that subject, I have heard it reported that paying fans at the circuit, couldn’t actually hear the cars coming!
F1 V8s had a similar impact to a Merlin engine on my excitement levels but not anymore, now the auditory drama has gone. To reuse the musical analogy, think Motorhead playing an acoustic set – okay but not right.
Over the last decade I have watched almost every single race and I am now thinking that this season may end that commitment - Formula One might become Formula Gone!
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I had to watch the highlights on BBC1 on Sunday afternoon because I don’t have Sky. I had to negotiate with my wife and her visiting family to ignore them for an hour and a half to watch the TV on my own. I only mention these things to evidence my commitment to the sport.
When I reappeared to be asked if the viewing pleasure was great, I had to respond that I was underwhelmed, which was a shame given that I’d just been rather antisocial.
It wasn’t because Vettel and Hamilton had cars that weren’t reliable enough to get to the end of the race – it was because the sound of the cars was all wrong and somehow uninspiring.
The aggressive, distinctive and loud howling of the V8s has been replaced with a muted thrum augmented with much whistling of turbo chargers. I have written before that the bellow of a V8 is deeply satisfying, almost spiritual for a petrolhead; an F1 engine was the ultimate rip-snorting evolution of the beast. An F1 V8 had a noise that was exciting and assaulted the senses; the equivalent of a Motorhead concert in musical terms!
The new engine regulations for 2014 have seen the 2.4 V8 replaced with a 1.6 turbo assisted V6 supported by electrical energy recovery/boosting systems; the engineering challenges for the teams have been huge and the cost staggering. But from a personal perspective, the result is unfortunately something a lot duller. The grand prix was not without incident, breakdowns, crashes, safety cars and rule infractions but for me, it was less engaging than it should have been.
I never really appreciated just how important the noise was to the enjoyment of the F1 spectacle. Some sounds are so distinctive, like the Merlin engine in a Spitfire; you just know something very good is coming. And on that subject, I have heard it reported that paying fans at the circuit, couldn’t actually hear the cars coming!
F1 V8s had a similar impact to a Merlin engine on my excitement levels but not anymore, now the auditory drama has gone. To reuse the musical analogy, think Motorhead playing an acoustic set – okay but not right.
Over the last decade I have watched almost every single race and I am now thinking that this season may end that commitment - Formula One might become Formula Gone!
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