How F1 cars should look, and sound!

[Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somerset]

I’ll post some more pictures up from the Festival of Speed I attended yesterday, but one of the starkest contrasts whilst there was between previous generations of F1 cars and what we have now.

 

The new cars are huge and heavy, and just so complex in their design. They may well be faster than before but they sound awful, very quiet and not a particularly nice noise. We visited the Red Bull Paddock where they had cars from each of their twenty years in the sport. Placed diagonally on the stands, the RB01 fitted easily, where as the latest cars extended well beyond the rope across the front.

 

The most beautiful looking car to my eyes (and my 22 year old son) was the McLaren MP4/5b (I think) Senna’s No. 27 car from 1990. It is so small, simple and lightweight as were all the cars back then. Kerb weight quoted on the web is 450kg, although F1 minimum weight at the time was 500kg not including driver. Now it is 798kg, albeit including the driver.

 

I didn’t get a particularly good shot of a contemporary car, but you can see the differences in those I did. The engineering quality and design is unquestionable, and the design and build of the carbon fibre aerodynamic surfaces are works of art. But this grumpy old man just finds it all a bit much.

 

And finally sound. Max Verstappen was driving a contemporary car up the hill and when doing burn outs, the engine was barely noticeable! You couldn’t hear the car coming up the hill, whereas the older cars you could hear them going off the start half a mile away. Much as I would love to say a Ferrari V12, my favourite car from that perspective was the BMW FW26. 950bhp from a 3 litre V10 screaming to 19000rpm, just amazing. The sound carries so far and is just so brutal and visceral, it completely changes the whole experience for me.

 

I’ve posted some images (mine) and YT links (not mine) from this year and one of Mika Hakkinen in the McLaren from 2 years ago as examples.

 

I know, progress is progress and without things like Halo Grosjean and a number of others would be dead, but this massive increase in size, weight and the loss of the sound changes my enjoyment of the sport completely.

 

Now, just to show I’m not a complete Luddite, I found the McMurtry Spéirling to be absolutely stunning! No, it doesn’t have the noise, but it is tiny, beautifully engineered and ‘other worldly’ fast; it is hard to comprehend just how quick it is up the hill. 39 secs vs most other cars being in the 50s somewhere. This one I did ‘get’ as it seems to be about minimalism and doing more with less; with ‘only’ 1000bhp, it was much still much faster that some of the ICE beasts with 1500 bhp, or the electric stuff with 2000bhp. Put twenty of them on a track and 😱😱😱🤣🤣🤣.

 

This has become, unintentionally, a bit of an essay, but am interested to know views on the above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Flying Carrot Steve]

You are absolutely right @Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somersetespecially about the noise. When I was a lad my grandfather lived in Buckingham, it's 6.47 miles from Silverstone as the crow flies. On a Grand Prix weekend we could hear the cars going round the track from his house! 

[Craigieboy]

58 minutes ago, Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somerset said:

I’ll post some more pictures up from the Festival of Speed I attended yesterday, but one of the starkest contrasts whilst there was between previous generations of F1 cars and what we have now.

 

The new cars are huge and heavy, and just so complex in their design. They may well be faster than before but they sound awful, very quiet and not a particularly nice noise. We visited the Red Bull Paddock where they had cars from each of their twenty years in the sport. Placed diagonally on the stands, the RB01 fitted easily, where as the latest cars extended well beyond the rope across the front.

 

The most beautiful looking car to my eyes (and my 22 year old son) was the McLaren MP4/5b (I think) Senna’s No. 27 car from 1990. It is so small, simple and lightweight as were all the cars back then. Kerb weight quoted on the web is 450kg, although F1 minimum weight at the time was 500kg not including driver. Now it is 798kg, albeit including the driver.

 

I didn’t get a particularly good shot of a contemporary car, but you can see the differences in those I did. The engineering quality and design is unquestionable, and the design and build of the carbon fibre aerodynamic surfaces are works of art. But this grumpy old man just finds it all a bit much.

 

And finally sound. Max Verstappen was driving a contemporary car up the hill and when doing burn outs, the engine was barely noticeable! You couldn’t hear the car coming up the hill, whereas the older cars you could hear them going off the start half a mile away. Much as I would love to say a Ferrari V12, my favourite car from that perspective was the BMW FW26. 950bhp from a 3 litre V10 screaming to 19000rpm, just amazing. The sound carries so far and is just so brutal and visceral, it completely changes the whole experience for me.

 

I’ve posted some images (mine) and YT links (not mine) from this year and one of Mika Hakkinen in the McLaren from 2 years ago as examples.

 

I know, progress is progress and without things like Halo Grosjean and a number of others would be dead, but this massive increase in size, weight and the loss of the sound changes my enjoyment of the sport completely.

 

Now, just to show I’m not a complete Luddite, I found the McMurtry Spéirling to be absolutely stunning! No, it doesn’t have the noise, but it is tiny, beautifully engineered and ‘other worldly’ fast; it is hard to comprehend just how quick it is up the hill. 39 secs vs most other cars being in the 50s somewhere. This one I did ‘get’. Put twenty of them on a track and 😱😱😱🤣🤣🤣.

 

This has become, unintentionally, a bit of an essay, but am interested to know views on the above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd love to go one of these years, but I think it's become something you need to plan a year in advance and there's always something in the way.

[Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somerset]

2 minutes ago, Craigieboy said:

 

I'd love to go one of these years, but I think it's become something you need to plan a year in advance and there's always something in the way.

We decided relatively late on (a couple of months back) and just went for the day. I think you could easily spend two days there, one watching the cars up the hill and another exploring the paddocks and stands, and potentially the rally stages too. So much to see. Might camp over next year. My biggest challenge was the fact that Sunday was my wedding anniversary. I’m getting comfortable in the dog house 😱😱🤣🤣

[stephenh]

A good friend of mine was (very many years ago!) a pupil at Stowe School, quite near to Silverstone, and on test days for F1 cars the boys who were well into their motorsport could tell from the sound of a single racing car where on the circuit the car was, from the sound of the car changing gear, accelerating and braking.  

Mind you, in those days (1960's) the track was a bit simpler than it is now. No chicanes in those days.

[Craigieboy]

14 minutes ago, Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somerset said:

We decided relatively late on (a couple of months back) and just went for the day. I think you could easily spend two days there, one watching the cars up the hill and another exploring the paddocks and stands, and potentially the rally stages too. So much to see. Might camp over next year. My biggest challenge was the fact that Sunday was my wedding anniversary. I’m getting comfortable in the dog house 😱😱🤣🤣

 

Brilliant, I'm under the thumb too.

Before I got the Westfield I was always under her feet and in the way. Now apparently I'm spending too much time in the garage!

Honestly you can't win.

 

Yeah it would need to be camping for me to make the journey worthwhile. 

[Rob Hunter - Club Secretary]

I'm a lifelong lover of Formula 1, don't think I've missed a race since I was a nipper 😂

 

You are right, the modern cars are huge, I too understand the safety concerns making the cars larger but it's the noise I miss the most.... One of my fondest memories is being on the start line of the Silverstone F1 race in 2006, the noise of twenty two V8's revving to 19000rpm was actually painful! That was also the year Hamilton overtook 2 cars at Becketts.

 

I tend to do the FOS every two or three years (its a long trek from Derbyshire!) but it's a real must for any petrolhead!

 

An alternative way of experiencing some classic F1 cars up close is to get to one of the off season testing sessions. @Garry Bunn - Derby & Notts Joint AOand I managed to get to Donington for the Masters testing earlier this year. Loads of classic F1 and Sportscars on track, hardly any spectators, free roam of the curcuit, an open paddock and to top it all.... its free!

 

 

 

 

 

[joolz]

The V10 era was a sweet spot for noise I think .. you can have loud cars that sound awful, but a V10 at the top of its rev range is glorious.

I too miss the sounds of old, and the overtaking opportunities short cars give you. But if we are to continue having car racing and F1 as its pinnacle it needs to address safety and environmental issues too, otherwise it won't be around at all.

 

Great post for nostalgia freaks though    

 

 

 

 

[RickRack]

Hiya Stu, a great piece & it certainly looks like it’s a must do when time allows. As for Car v’s Noise this reminded me of Le Mans 10 yrs ago. Getting stand seats and watching the first hybrids (Toyota & Audi) coming thru & there being literally no sound but intense speed made the rest of the pack look about as quick as my X-type 2.2 diesel estate - but we all agreed that the best car from a spectator point of view was the Corvette V8 - I swear you could hear it accelerating with a full thumping bumble out of Mulsanne whilst waiting 2 minutes for it to be seen. And then swearing at it at 02:00 hrs when camping 500 yards from the circuit when trying to sleep with ear defenders. 

[CarbonWest - Chris Broster - Bristol & Bath AO]

2 hours ago, Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somerset said:

We decided relatively late on (a couple of months back) and just went for the day. I think you could easily spend two days there, one watching the cars up the hill and another exploring the paddocks and stands, and potentially the rally stages too. So much to see. Might camp over next year. My biggest challenge was the fact that Sunday was my wedding anniversary. I’m getting comfortable in the dog house 😱😱🤣🤣

Great post Stuart, I too was there yesterday as offered a ticket late Friday night.

 

Early start Sunday for a 2 1/4 hr drive from Bristol but then 45 mins queue to get in car park and 30 mins to walk to gate 2!

 

Top tip for next visit - Camp and do split days like you said track v stands.

 

Also need step/chair/selfie stick and ear defenders (Air pod pro work well)

 

Packed lunch or snacks helps - bacon butty and coffee £12-14! Pint not bad at £8...

 

 

[Flying Carrot Steve]

41 minutes ago, joolz said:

The V10 era was a sweet spot for noise I think .. you can have loud cars that sound awful, but a V10 at the top of its rev range is glorious.

I too miss the sounds of old, and the overtaking opportunities short cars give you. But if we are to continue having car racing and F1 as its pinnacle it needs to address safety and environmental issues too, otherwise it won't be around at all.

 

Great post for nostalgia freaks though    

 

 

 

 

 

Yep, the V10 is the daddy of all F1 engine sounds, absolutely ear shattering but totally beautiful ❤️

[Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somerset]

18 minutes ago, CarbonWest - Chris Broster - Bristol & Bath AO said:

Great post Stuart, I too was there yesterday as offered a ticket late Friday night.

 

Early start Sunday for a 2 1/4 hr drive from Bristol but then 45 mins queue to get in car park and 30 mins to walk to gate 2!

 

Top tip for next visit - Camp and do split days like you said track v stands.

 

Also need step/chair/selfie stick and ear defenders (Air pod pro work well)

 

Packed lunch or snacks helps - bacon butty and coffee £12-14! Pint not bad at £8...

 

 

Yep, we left at 5am and were in by 7.43am according to my photo timing. Last five miles were slow, but it was still only half an hour longer than it should have been with a clear run. I wouldn’t want to arrive there much later though as it can then get horrid.

 

Agreed on packed lunches, though we did buy food there as we just ran out of time. Bacon butties were £7.50 for breakfast and burgers were a tenner for lunch, very nice ones though, not rubbish.

 

We found a great spot on the hill after Molecomb. The spectator area there is sloping so if you stand towards the top of that you can see down to the corner over people’s heads, and over the bales so get a really good view. Saw Travis hit the bales at Molecomb from there!

 

I like the full experience so don’t go for ear defenders 🤣

 

 

[Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somerset]

Just thinking we should at least say hello if a number of us go next year. Not sure I can but would certainly like to so I’ll pop something up before to see who is there and when.

[Marcus Barlow - Show and Events Co-ordinator]

Silverstone festival coming up August Bank Hol is another good opportunity to see these fire breathing historic F1 cars 😍

 

WSCC last year:

 

Me in Pits last year close enough to enjoy the fumes!!!!

 

[jeff oakley]

The FOS has sadly become another place to be seen like Henley or Wimbledon.

in the early years it was more focused on the cars and drivers were out and about more.

i was in the gents when in came Stirling Moss and John Surtees who were either side of me.

We were there one year when Paul Stoddard owned Minardi and was there. I was with my FIL and we were invited in to look in the team transporter and workshop. Trying to keep him from breaking things( think Uncle Albert only fools and horses) as he was picking things up one of which was the carbon fibre steering wheel valued £30k like a child would, but that was the access you had and they were happy to talk to enthusiasts as that was in the main the people there.

i agree modern F1 cars are a shadow of the theatre that the V10 era gave us,