Louder Engines "Essential" for Formula One in the Future According to Wolff

[Glaurung]

I think F1 will never come back to NA engines because the hybrid technology is the future and the money invested in R&D in this field are useful for their automotive business. Back with NA engines the costs will surely be capped because the field of engine developement would be narrower than today with a more focus on the aerodynamics, but invest a lot of money just to design new and new wings, winglets, nolders and fins is somenthing that cars manufacturers are not interested to.
Also, if F1 leaves the hybrid technology then the LMP1 cars would remain alone as the more techological advanced race cars, not very good for F1 prestige.

 

[JPL083]

They went from glory to somewhere down with the hybrid's, they are fast but sound's that did make THAT vibe for F1 was gone, so was how brutal they sounded and feeled even thru TV-Screen. I was watching these modern whatever F1's. Until end of 2016, i was always bored but still watched in this hybrid era, when my local TV broadcaster did show interview with Bernie. Somewhere during weekend (not sure what race) there was classic car's on track, car went by... I did hear it, it was V12. Not sure what car but i guess it was Ferrari. Right away i was lighten up, remembered how F1 was back then thru live from TV and all, and then interviewer pointed to Bernie and asked, -What do you think about engine noise today? He pointed with his finger and said... -That's how F1 should sound! I went from down to high and even more deep down in couple of second's. At that point i finally desided to quit following F1 all time, without getting nothing from it anymore, no brutality, stupid rules after rules and penalty after penalty and ruined tracks and yeah all that... And the moment when you are gonna watch GP2-Race and hear their engine's and you know how upcoming F1 sound's... Yeah, quite killed it. And this their attempt to make Engines louder by creating something to do it, while before raw engine did make that by itself. F1 should be racing as it's purest with road, car and driver, without any electric crap and moving aeroparts etc. Now it's just a showoff for some manufacturer's. They already did the harm by going for hybrid, the moment when F1 lost it's rawness... And went for Endurance mode, there is own racing for that, they are actually doing F1 better than actual F1! F1 should be flatout racing from start to finish, sweat and tears... And make audience feel like holy s... But this technology has put almoust all physicality down, like it's weird for someone to see someone sweating, -Oh he's sweating? That's terrible! We have to complain that it's too tough for the driver's, make it easier for them so they dont need to sweat! This is modern time for godsake! Physical work! What's that? A blast from the past? Sametime wants the car's go faster and so on... Long gone time's when Senna was able to barely lift the trophy... And people though, that's our hero! Now someone would be sued. But yeah, went a bit out of hand, but their attempting to make car's louder somehow else than getting raw engine's back, is fake like their racing today! A bit long text but did need to open up a bit...

 

[Steve Bird]

I agree with yusupov. Even tho electric cars will make basically no sound, it's the way to go and it seems stupid to just stop improving that technology simply because it sounds bad. Many things change with the years in almost everything we know even tho we don't like changes. I don't think F1 will ever become full-electric because of Formula E.

Nobody is saying that the electric formula isn't worth improving and evolving but they should co-exist.

 

[BhZ]

Nobody is saying that the electric formula isn't worth improving and evolving but they should co-exist.

I just said that F1 will go where technology goes. It will never be fully electric because Formula E has already taken that spot, but it will remain Hybrid until a new technology is invented.

 

[aka2k]

Slap V12s on those chassis and there you go: crisis averted. At least, sound wise. Most crucial thing right now would be dropping Hermann Tilke boring circuits. Then the boring pilots.

Well, in the end might be a good idea to scrap F1 and start it again hoping for a Senna and a Schumacher to drop in eventually.

 

[RasmusP]

In my opinion (yes, I only watched F1 since about the last year with mika, quite young) F1 should be about being the fastest (and safest) racing series. In german it's called "kings class" for a reason.
Screw all these rules! Cap the budget and set a few rules for the safety of the pilots. Done!
Let's see what's faster. The guys with hybrid, only 1x fuel for the race etc or some crazy bastard with 6 wheels! As long as the budget is capped somewhere to give guys with brilliant engineers a chance I don't see a real problem there!

 

[LEDzZzEPP]

Actually I like the sound of the rev's when they downshift, a bit louder in general would be nice

 

[yusupov]

You are obviously a tree hugging hippy . I hope you enjoy your electric motorsport sat with your 2000 strong crowd in the stadiums. Mind you, you could have 50,000 spectators but 48,000 would be asleep.

probably a tree-hugger, but not when it comes to motorsport. simply being realistic.

also, electric cars are quiet; i don't see how it follows that electric race cars have to be.

as for forumla E prohibiting F1 from going full-electric...no, it doesn't work that way, either. (or if it does, those guys are freaking geniuses & i want to invest).

the internal combustion engine is not bound to the tradition of motorsport, its simply been the weapon of choice to make the wheels spin. the moment motorsport limits itself to enginesport its true tradition dies & the sport becomes something lesser.

if your concept of F1 or car racing in general is that narrow you'd very likely be a lost fan in 5-10 years time anyway. there have always been plenty of people who think whatever they grew up or fell in love with is essential to F1 & drop off when the formula changes beyond their grasp.

 

[Albert McSaltens]

Why do they need a 14000 RPM cap?

because engines tend to sound a lot better at 10.000 to 13.000 than those crazy 18.000 high pitch moskito sounds

 

[RasmusP]

Why do they need a 14000 RPM cap?

LINK
I don't know why these rules exist but they are.. I think it is to homologate the power-units!

 

[robnitro]

because engines tend to sound a lot better at 10.000 to 13.000 than those crazy 18.000 high pitch moskito sounds

Also an inherently balanced engine like V12, inline 6, flat 6? would be much better. For example, the V12 supercars of the 90s (mclaren f1, ferrari f50, Lamborghini Diablo SV/GTR) sound 100x better than the V10's today which have that annoying howl.

The v10 sometimes sounds like those fake loud exhausts on Infiniti v6 cars, lol.

 

[Rob]

Do you agree with Wolff that engines in Formula One need to be louder in future? Are you happy with the current Hybrid rules in Grand Prix racing? Let us know in the comments section below!

Great article Paul, as always.

Yes. No. We are in good hands with Brawn, Toto, and Liberty's CEO. They all talk to the fans, and not in cryptic bureau-speak. They are direct, correct, and will effect F1 in some great ways I hope. We just need to get rid of Whiting now. lol.

 

[Steve Bird]

I just said that F1 will go where technology goes. It will never be fully electric because Formula E has already taken that spot, but it will remain Hybrid until a new technology is invented.

Fair comment.

 

[Steve Bird]

probably a tree-hugger, but not when it comes to motorsport. simply being realistic.

also, electric cars are quiet; i don't see how it follows that electric race cars have to be.

as for forumla E prohibiting F1 from going full-electric...no, it doesn't work that way, either. (or if it does, those guys are freaking geniuses & i want to invest).

the internal combustion engine is not bound to the tradition of motorsport, its simply been the weapon of choice to make the wheels spin. the moment motorsport limits itself to enginesport its true tradition dies & the sport becomes something lesser.

if your concept of F1 or car racing in general is that narrow you'd very likely be a lost fan in 5-10 years time anyway. there have always been plenty of people who think whatever they grew up or fell in love with is essential to F1 & drop off when the formula changes beyond their grasp.

You are probably correct. After being a fan of F1 for over 40 years and going to 100+ F1GP's in that time I would probably fall out with F1 if the current trend continues. In reality I suppose I have already as I haven't been to a single GP since these Hybrid's were introduced. I went to Silverstone yesterday and was, like the majority of the 50,000 strong crowd, reminded of how poor F1 sounds nowadays. I for one remember the days when the boom of a gear change used to make your chest rattle and that was what made me as a 7 year old fall in love with F1, not the spectacle of a load of cars going round the track as I can do that by watching any other motorsport formula in the world. The sound was what differentiated F1 from the rest and unfortunately that isn't the case anymore. Just my opinion but what does F1 offer the spectator/fan now that other formulas don't? (and don't even mention the rediculous gate prices). It's invaluable to car manufacturers but the last time i looked F1 was about the fans and providing an unforgettable experience. Really?

I know you're all for the changes but I believe I'm entitled to my opinion and that is I prefer engine sounds that make my senses buzz. I have nothing against hybrid engines at all, but make them loud. They are racing cars after all and not road cars so why the need to make them quiet? Probably to tender to idiots that move into houses next to a race track and then complain I suppose.

Remember this?

 

[Ben Lee]

The F1 people seem so clueless as to what they are doing. It doesn't take a genius to work out that a v6 turbo is going to sound anything like a v8 or v10. They acted all surprised when the hybrid cars came out. When they announced that they were going to ditch the v8s I knew there and then that it would mean a big shift in the sound of the cars, do the stakeholders in the sport not see this, are they morons?

 

[Angelo dos Santos]

Noise is nice...but what is really essential is good racing. Not fastest laps competitions....but good racing.
A field where drivers can really fight it out, and cars are not pointless monsters full of all sort of wings and aerodevices, that contribute something close to 0 for the real world and absolutely kills the racing spirit.
Cars today are made to run alone...others cars around are an "necessary evil", just to pretend that we´re having a race. But the dream of every team is their cars running alone from everyone and showcasing fast lap times. And this creates a spoiled generation of drivers (the majority far from being something close to a real racer), that complains about other drivers because they are....competing.
So ...work on aesthetics will not solve the REAL problem with F1, happening now for a long long time.

 

[Roderick Kennedy]

From a purely gaming perspective,i really cannot abide the sound of modern f1 cars.
for me sound generates excitement,and adrenaline flow,still get a shiver down my spine thinking of the danger invoked with GPL.
I no longer buy the latest f1 titles,its the sound,lack of,boring.

 

[Ghoults]

I think it is a bit sad how modern motorsport has gotten into this hybrid situation. In the past the teams and series used to choose engines based on what is fastest on track. Nowadays it seems to be all about finding something that is as close to your normal road car engine. No matter how expensive and poor suited it is for racing usage. I think it is completely wrong approach and is hurting f1. F1 should be about exciting tech - not about putting road car tech into f1.

The modern f1 cars are obese. Overweight. Slow. There is about 100kg of electronics that just add weight to the car without even producing enough performance to offset their own weight. Remember when f1 first introduced the kers system? After one season everybody agreed to drop it because it made the cars slower and increased costs. It is the same thing again with the hybrid engines. Extremely expensive, slow and weight a ton. And boring. Fuel efficiency is not exciting. You could take out all the hybrid engine nonsense out of f1 car and drop the old v8 and make the car faster, cheaper and exciting. The weight saving alone would save seconds of single lap time and minutes from full race length. And would not sound like leaf blower.

I think it is wrong to assume that f1 for whatever reason needs hybrid engines. I think it is completely wrong to get so fixated on the engines. There is a lot more to f1 car than the engine. We all know the future is self driving electric cars. The path f1 has taken has only one ending: self driving electric cars. Does anybody want that?

F1 needs engine that is cheap so all the teams can afford to buy engines. F1 needs engine performance parity to improve the racing. F1 can't survive if the only way to be competitive is to be factory ferrari or mercedes team. And the engine needs to be exciting. Putting road car engines into f1 cars is not exciting. Fuel efficiency is not exciting.

So here is my engine rule proposal. Everybody can sell engines in f1. No tech rules at all. Anything goes. Double turbo 2 litre v12, na 4 liter pushrod straight 6 or fully electric duracell powered lawnmower with windmills and lasers. But there is a catch. An engine manufacturer must sell their engine to anyone and everyone who wants to buy it. At fixed cost of 5 million per season. No more, no less. If more teams want to buy your engine than you can make them then you need to find a supplier to build more engines. Everybody must use the same fuel and that fuel is designed to be as eco friendly as possible. Lubricants are free. And all teams must use the same engine spec. No more selling year old engines. No more running the latest spec engine in your factory team cars while everybody else is months behind. No fuel flow limits, no fuel cell limits (no refueling though). Just minimum weight, fixed price and no choosing of customers.

 

[el chasco]

the best technology is inevitably going to be all-electric, so...whatever.

Nope. For this exists the Formula E.

 

[el chasco]

The solution? NA 3.5L or 3.0 engines.

Why? Because this engines are cheap, good amount of HP, and minus wear than a 2.4 NA v8 for example.

And, with a cheap and simple hybrid system, to boost only at the corner exits.

Why NA? Because is the only way to make a loud engine (with a turbo, you need to increase the RPM, like a NA, but it wears too quickly, and had more lag to make a bigger turbo for high RPM).