The noise of Formula 1: Comparison

If you haven’t attended a Grand Prix before and you were to ask someone who had what it was like, chances are the first thing they’d mention was the noise. In previous years the first thing you’d know about a Formula 1 car is hearing them far off in the distance and there would be that anticipation that they were on their way towards you before they’d hurtle into view and as they’d pass you it would literally vibrate through your body before they’d shoot off. It was exhilarating, a wall of violent sound kept under control by the dancing feet on the pedals and the strength and skill of the hands on the wheel.

It’s mesmerising to see a Formula 1 car in action. I’ve been lucky enough to see 15 Grand Prix over the years and it’s quite a fantastic experience seeing them live, right in front of you. And seeing them this year was no different in my opinion.

I’ve not really written too much about the noise debate, in fact as the season has gone we’re beginning to hear less and less from people about the subject. For good reason too as the racing has been just as good, and in the end that’s what the people are paying their money for. There have been sound bites of people criticising the show but I feel its unjust for the most part.

I’ve waited until now to add a few comments because I wanted to actually hear these new Turbo engines up close myself. Below are two clips taken with the same camera. The first one is from the young driver test last year, and the second is from this year’s British Grand Prix. They are taken from nearly the same section of track. The test clip was taken in the Grandstand on the old start/finish straight so you see the cars coming out of Woodcote down the straight to Copse. This year’s race clip was taken from the Grandstand on the outside of Copse.

Now if I was to ask which one sounded better then I think the majority of people would go with the 2013 vintage. It’s scream just projects the exhilaration of Formula 1 into you, pretty much nowhere else could you hear cars like this. The 2014 version is obviously a lot quieter, you can hear the circuit commentary a lot clearer and you come away from the race not feeling like you’ve been pummelled in the face for ninety minutes. Which actually I quite liked, although there was something nice about having your ears ringing for hours afterwards, it felt like you’d experienced something amazing.

However, as much as I’m eulogising about the extinct normally aspirated V8’s of yesteryear, I have no problem with moving on to this more subtle noise. In fact I actually quite like it now. Formula 1 is meant to be the leading motorsport and no matter what anyone tells you that means you have to move with the times and that means moving towards greener technology. To be basic, sound is energy, the cars are quieter because these power units are that much more efficient at using all the waste energy that it produces. It’s a message which the F1 commercial team have failed to get through to the fans somewhat, but it’s important that Formula 1 is at the forefront of this. Nowhere else does technology progress at such a pace than in the competitive environment of this sport.

The racing was obviously unaffected, it was a great race at Silverstone and after a few laps you simply don’t care about the noise, it’s the racing you’re concentrating on. You can still see the cars, the drivers at work controlling these still very powerful machines and actually there is something quite pleasing about the rumble of thunder as they come towards you, it’s not body shattering but it still combines well as the drivers tame the cars in front of you. I actually find the turbo sounds and the electrical whining that you can hear particularly on the Ferrari to be futuristic, which is what Formula 1 should be about.

I’m sure as the years go on and we create new sources of cleaner fuel for the combustion engine, which will happen, then they’ll become 50/50 hybrid machines with a nice subtle roar and the whine of electricity, maybe it’ll even get louder again, but this kind of technology is here to stay and for good reason. I don’t want to see F1 go fully electric, there’s the new Formula E for that (which to be fair actually sounds pretty good to my ears). F1 has been built on noise and that needs to be maintained, but I was quite pleased, and after 90minutes of racing it might be quieter but it’s still very spectacular and an experience you won’t forget.