The Sound of Formula One 19/01/2008 Every once in a while I get fed up with being responsible, sober and serious. As an old hippy, I have a right to lament the passing of heady days when the word "alternative" referred to lifestyle rather than fuel. And today I feel like having a good moan about the state of F1 and where it is going.Unashamed fuel burningFirst of all, I want you to turn up your speakers and then watch this video. It's a demonstration run done by Red Bull Racing through the streets of Sao Paulo a couple of years ago. And what strikes us most in watching the video is not the wet streets nor the speed of the car (the driver is reining it in out of necessity); it is the sound, the scream of an engine that can rev to 20,000 rpm, echoing and reverberating off the surrounding buildings, a sound that can only be heard in F1.I know that purists like Number 38 will take me to task for saying so, but the sound of a high performance engine is an important part of the magic of motor sport. Ask for the impressions of anyone who has just watched an F1 race for the first time and the noise of the cars will be mentioned - with a wild, gleeful look in the eye as likely as not. It is an assault on the senses that takes root in the heart and either makes you a fan forever or turns you off in pain. It captured me way back in the sixties and holds me fascinated still.In my more responsible moments, I will tell you that, ultimately, F1 cars will be powered by electric motors that produce no emissions and hum contentedly at their highest revs. But that is not to say that I look forward to the day; it may be that the cars will have to carry some form of noise-making equipment so that the sound of F1 is not forgotten.So I lament the passing of the day when engines would rev to ridiculous heights. They are curtailed to a minor degree now but the signpost to the future is clear for us to see: relevance to road cars is what matters now and there is no place for the ear-shattering crescendo that has been the signature of the sport for so long.It may be that there is no option for F1 but to ensure its survival by becoming relevant and responsible. But that does not mean I have to like it. There is a glorious spirit of rebellion present within motor sport that tempts one to ignore the stuck up spoilsports of the environmental movement and to proclaim, "We do it because we love it, not because it benefits humanity or the planet."But enough of my gripes - here's another video of an F1 engine at play. I challenge you not to join in with the mechanics' expression of joy at the end.
Clive
verasaki I'll second every bit of this. The sound and the smell have always been the big attraction that makes the hassle and cost of going to a race. I was never so happy as when F1 dumped the whingy turbos. Funny, as I sit at a red light next to the ground shaking stereo of the gold plated Ford F150 sitting next to me it never occured to me that same stereo system may need to become standard racing equipment! Date Added: 19/01/2008
John F Clive, The second video was of a Renault correct? Well anyway the sound of an F1 engine is unique and I agree that the sound is part of the race. To me it is equal to the sound of a baseball off a wooden bat. Years ago Major Legue Baseball was thinking of going to an Aluminum bat but the public outcry of losing the sound of wooden bat on ball ended the idea. I also remember going to CART races in Nazereth PA and the sound was great. The next year the engines went to naturally asperated and the sound was gone. If F1 ever loses the sound it will be missed. I do not think that F1 has to go green. How much fuel is F1 "wasting" but not doing so. Each team spends enough money already so the cost of the fuel will never be an issue. If people actually blame manufactures because they have such inefficient F1 engines as compared to their factory cars we have to point out the obvios that the F1 engine is not in their production car. I personally feel that F1 will or should eventually rule that only internal cumbustion engines can be used in the sport. If people want to race electric cars in the future then in the future then can create their own series like E1 or something. I would hate to see the internal cumbustion engine leave the sport and I think I am safe to say that in my lifetime it will never happen!! Date Added: 19/01/2008
Clive There is nothing quite like that sound, is there, Vera? It stirs the blood and makes the world a more exciting place again. And let's hope we're all long gone before they have to play recordings to simulate the real F1, just as John says! Date Added: 19/01/2008
Clive I think I was looking a long way into the future with the electric engine thing, John; the internal combustion engine will be with us for a while yet. But the fuel will change and, as we have discussed before, hydrogen will win. Hopefully the cars will still make the same noises, however.Yes, it was a Renault engine in the second clip. And the RBR was using a Ferrari engine at the time. Date Added: 19/01/2008
verasaki Completely off topic here but, what will alternative fuels look like when they ignite? I know Champ Car uses methanol which is particularly dangerous when there is a spill because if it ignites you can't actually see the flame. It's been so long since I've followed that series but I believe I recall there being some reason why it wasn't possible to use an additive that would make a flame visible. How would an alternative fuel react? Not that I think refueling is a particularly riveting part of F1 or any other motor sport. I just wonder if the fuel may actually make refueling a dead issue somewhere down the road. The FIA seem so intent on keeping it that it doesn't even crop up as a potential rule change or an area of cost savings...or maybe those lovely French fueling rigs don't require much maintenance or occassional replacing? I just had a chance to watch the vids, I was at work earlier and being a hi tech IT company, they frown on any personal internet use because it bogs down their connectivity. That must have been a brutal run through Sao Paolo, wet white paint stripes and trying to keep the revs down! I usually envy F1 drivers. But I can definitely relate to the guy standing next to the Toyota his arms crossed and a smile on his face. Date Added: 19/01/2008
Steven Roy You can't beat the sound of a real engine. Other than by the sound of a grid full of real engines. I saw the F3000 race at LeMans in 1991. The grid there has a high pit building on one side and a high grandstand on the other so the sound bounces around. I can still remember the sound when the red light went out. And those were only F3000 engines.You have to love Brazil. Where else are the going to allow F1 to run on public roads with no barriers and where else are you going to find people so cool that they will cross the road in front of an F1 car.I though Michael Ammermuller did a great job given the conditions and his lack of experience.Hydrogen burns with a blue flame. Date Added: 20/01/2008
John F I have to agree with Steven Roy about Brazil. I know that with my commute I often dream of driving an F1 up the Garden State Parkway and blowing even the state troopers off the road. It must have been a dream come true albiet he had to keep the revs down. Date Added: 20/01/2008
Pink Peril I must say, whenever I go to a race & see those people with earplugs in I think, why bother?Why bother shelling out all that money and then block the one sense that means the most at the track - the sound !You might as well stay at home & watch it on TV.I love it all, the sound, the smells, the shaking of the grandstand as the cars go past. Hell, I even loved the singed eyebrows when Buttons engine exploded about 10 metres from my face in 2006 !Only 53 days to go..... Date Added: 20/01/2008
Alianora La Canta There's a simple reason - if some of us didn't wear ear plugs, we'd get so overloaded from the noise that we wouldn't actually be able to process the sound of the F1 engines. Even with ear plugs, it still sounds a LOT better than on the TV :) Date Added: 21/01/2008
Clive It seems we're all agreed, however - sound matters! :D Date Added: 21/01/2008
Alianora La Canta What could sound better than the singing of optimally-tuned automotive machinery on the knife-edge of performance? I'm not sure, but I will tell you it makes the scrape of a nose cone dragging on the track (which happened the one time I went to an F1 event) sound a lot worse than usual... Date Added: 21/01/2008
Number 38 Ah, the photo brings back a fond but costly memory. Clive may be the only man to have seen a photo of a hydroplane boat I used to race, a four cylinder opposed engine on it's transom and four megaphones aimed at the competition. We used to 'tune' it just as this photo illustrates, my brother adjusting the mixture as I observed the colour of the exhaust (at some distance), this done stationary, in the evening, under a canopy as the colour change would be minimal. Then it happened.......a bright orange flash, a shearing pain in my left arm and the noise stopped! We surmise a con-rod parted and the stub still spinning at full revs cut the engine in half! The pain in my arm was a coin sized piece of the crankcase thrown at me like a bullet! I once visited the Holman & Moody (NASCAR) engine shop and was amused at the holes in their test cell walls. I guess there is a reason for posting the warning signs "Motor Racing is Dangerous" and not just at the circuits! Date Added: 21/01/2008
Clive When high performance engines go bang, they do it properly! No wonder they can produce such huge clouds of smoke after tearing themselves apart. Date Added: 22/01/2008
john f My first car was a 1969 thunderbird with a 428 cobra jet. The previos owner (my high school history teacher) had no idea what he had. The cobras on the quater panel were missing but the holes were there. I was 17 at the time and I used to race eveything and anything. Not being the mechanic that I should have been at the time I destroyed the enginge. When it blew I noticed an extra hole in the quater panel. To this day I dont know what went through that hole. I do know that when an engine is reving at high rpm's I stand back because whatever made the hole through the metal could make a hole through flesh just as easy. Date Added: 22/01/2008
Clive Hah, the stories are coming out now! I have little to offer in return, unfortunately; the only engine I've blown was in an ancient Morris Minor and it just seized - didn't have the power to put a piston through the block or anything dramatic like that... Date Added: 22/01/2008
Simon Just discovered this place...very interesting!My own little contribution concerns the time when I was being the backup for my friend running a pre-war (that's 39-45 war) Riley, 2.5l supercharged. We were about to go up to the start line at a hill climb and he was blipping the engine to try and get some more heat into it. Just as the marcshalls waved him forward the engine died and a lump of con rod appeared on the ground beside me. Since this was a VSCC event, Joe Public was all around and one of them picked this hhalf rod up and proceeded to offer it back to me making some "this just dropped off" comment when he realised that it was actually quite hot...in fact very hot....Needless to say, I did not take it and he very swiftly dropped it - I don't think he will ever do that again!We had the rod go out one side and the big end strap go out the other side - both holes were about 6" x 2" and the cast iron block became instant scrap.Simon Date Added: 26/01/2008
Clive Some indication of the power involved, Simon. To send a con rod straight through a cast iron block must require tremendous forces. It never ceases to amaze me that we manage to control such forces within the humble internal combustion engine. Well, most of the time we do! Date Added: 27/01/2008
steve Hi guys, where do you think I can find sound clips of the starting line of a grand prix race... in particular the sound of all the cars revving and dumping before the orange light. Date Added: 19/02/2009
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