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. 

FIA look to ban FRIC suspension systems

According to autosport.com the Front-and-Rear Interconnected Suspension that most teams use in Formula 1 could be banned before the German Grand Prix. The FIA has left the door open for the ban to be put back until 2015 but that will require unanimous support from all the teams.

Mercedes are thought to have the most advanced system and one which is one of the major strengths of their current dominant car. The chances of all teams agreeing to delay the ban then are slim one would have thought as some teams may not have the system or cannot work it as well as others so it may advantage them to see it banned sooner rather than later.

I'm sure Mercedes doesn't see it like that as it appears to be an integral part of their car. Apparently the FIA wrote to the teams on Tuesday to tell them they believe the system to be illegal. So what does FRIC suspension do? Well it's sort of trying to mimic active suspension which adjusted itself to stabilise the car which then helps with the aerodynamics.

In a note Autosport has seen Charlie Whiting, FIA technical delegate says this: "Having now seen and studied nearly every current design of front to rear linked suspension system we, the FIA, are formally of the view that the legality of all such systems could be called into question."

This is because the system is not rigidly fixed to car, so therefore could be seen as a moveable aerodynamic device which is outlawed in Article 3.15.

To me it seems strange that it is suddenly banned when nearly halfway through a season. I'm aware it isn't uncommon for the FIA to change things part way through a season, such as what happened with Pirelli last year. However just because they've done it before doesn't make it right. In fact I've never seen it as the right thing to do because it changes the playing field. Why should a team suffer when they've designed something that up to now was legal? These sort of decisions should be made in the off season if it's a system that is already being used.

By all means if a team invent something during the system and it's a little dodgy then ban it, but if most have had this system when the season start to ban it now does seem unfair. 

Teams have been running their cars in this kind of configuration since testing started in January, how can it now be illegal? Ok they've said they have just finish studying 'nearly every current system' but it has been around for a few years now, and Renault introduced a version as far back as 2008, so the FIA have known about it for a while.

I do find it a strange thing to do, especially less than two weeks before the next race with minimal chance to test. The last day of testing at Silverstone is tomorrow, (Felipe Massa was fastest today) I hope the teams see sense and delay the ban until 2015, but as the autosport article notes, if one teams design isn't that good or if even they don't have a version of this then why should anyone else benefit? If a team then chooses to run it in Germany, then a team could make an official protest if the FIA's opinion is that it is illegal.

I'm sure this will cause a fair amount of controversy, but lets see what happens first, I hope any such ban is held back to 2015. Although again as I have written before, it might be against the moveable aerodynamic devices rule but I hate seeing Formula 1 being so consistently constrained by the rules. I know they do it for money reasons, but this is the most advanced motor sport, could we stop trying to standardise everything and let the teams breathe and invent so the best drivers in the world can thrash these devices around a track. This is meant to be a breeding ground for creativity that should be allowed to flourish. 

Anyway, that's another story, as for this story it should be watched with interest and if a ban does come in it'll be very interesting to see which teams benefit and which teams don't and if the pecking order changes at all.

British Grand Prix Photography

The British Grand Prix was an eventful race. Lewis Hamilton won his fifth race of the season while his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg retired for the first time this year. The result cut Rosberg's championship lead from 29 points to just 4.

I was lucky enough to attend this race and took a few photographs of the action from Copse corner illustrating some of the action that took place.

Before the action started we had the drivers parade

Rosberg got a great start ahead of the McLaren's

It was Massa's 200th Grand Prix...

...but Kimi lost it on Wellington Straight leaving Massa with nowhere to go.

The resultant damage meant both cars were out of the race and the race was red flagged.

Rosberg legged it at the restart, he was on his own.

But Lewis was soon up into second position and charging.

Meanwhile there was an intense fight for the final podium spot between McLaren's
Red Bull's and the remaining Williams of Valtteri Bottas

Force India were off the pace, but Nico Hulkenberg held on for eighth despite starting fourth

Toro Rosso cars fell back at the start but ended up finishing where they started in 9th and 10th,
Kvyat ahead of Vergne.

I thought Sauber might have got a point but they fell back with Gutierrez hitting
Maldonado and retiring. Yes, Maldonado was the victim!

The Lotus cars never looked like points scorers at Silverstone.

Jules Bianchi impressed with his defensive driving for the opening laps, while
the other Marussia of Max Chilton valiantly chased the Caterhams.

Jenson Button pursued Ricciardo for his first British Grand Prix podium...

...but the Australian held on to take his fourth podium of the year.

With Lewis closing, Rosberg suffered his first mechanical drama forcing his retirement.

Lewis shot off into the distance.

Meanwhile Bottas had long since been best of the rest and was lonely
in 2nd after starting 14th. 

Alonso had got ahead of Vettel into Copse after the German's second pit stop.

Vettel fought hard to get the place back. These two world champions battled
like it was for the win, but it was only 5th place.

Eventually Vettel sneaked inside and chased after Button but there were too
few laps left.

Up at the front though, Hamilton was in control and cruised to the line to win
his fifth Grand Prix of the year. The crowd loved it!