Silverstone boss not concerned about engine noise

F1 Fanatic Round-up

Posted on

| Written by

In the round-up: Silverstone managing director Richard Phillips says he does not believe the quieter sound of this year’s F1 engines will put fans off attending the British Grand Prix.

Links

Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more.

Lewis Hamilton puts British Grand Prix ticket sales in fast lane (The Guardian)

Philips: “Yes, the engines are quieter but we do not feel it will have any impact on our event, quite the opposite, and we believe by the time we stage our race, the cars will be a lot quicker as the teams understand more about the new power units and the regulations.”

Old V8 engines were too noisy, says Warwick (Reuters)

“If the fans really think about it, the V8s were too noisy. I think they were ear-bleeding. We’ve just got to re-adjust our volume.”

Perez reveals kerb concerns (Sky)

“We talked about it in the drivers’ briefing. It’s very easy, what I did to Fernando [Alonso], what Jenson [Button] did to me last year, it’s very easy [to run wide] because the corner [turn four] takes you that way. Hopefully on Sunday we don’t see an accident like this for the good of the cars and the good of the show.”

Pirelli doubtful of 2015 tyre warmer ban (Autosport)

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery: “At the moment, I have to say it looks very difficult to achieve for next season staying with the current tyre sizes.”

F1: Sebastian Vettel set to meet FIA president after labelling quiet engines ‘s***’ (The Independent)

“I realise everyone thinks I don’t like the sound because I have not won yet, but I don’t care, I stand by what I said. I am a fan of the old F1.”

Lewis Hamilton: I’m a lot happier in my new Mercedes (BBC)

“It was kind of weird this year to have people asking whether I could adapt to the new Formula 1 rules. I was like: ‘Are you serious?’ I’ve adapted to every car I’ve ever driven. It’s what we do.”

Revealed: Red Bull’s $1.2 billion Bet On Formula One (Forbes)

“Energy drinks giant Red Bull has spent more than $1.2 billion on its flagship Formula One auto racing team over the past decade according to new research.”

Bernie-led consortium to buy part of F1? (MotorSport)

“To maximise his chances of being able to finance such a buying up of shares, reducing the value of the sport would be helpful. How might one go about reducing the value of the sport? Well, you could make a big deal of how the noise of the new cars is awful, for example. You could get close associates to agree with you very publically. Or you might say the quality of the racing was poor. That might do it.”

A dark affair (The Economist)

Alaa Shehabi of Bahrain Watch: “We are used to the fact that economic and political interests trump human rights. But there is no love for this race. It is not like a football match that has a popular base. It is seen as an elite sport with elite backing.”

Interview: Bahrain circuit boss Sheikh Salman on 10 years of F1 and the Schumacher corner (James Allen on F1)

“For us it is a round of the Formula One world championship and so security measures for the event must be monitored but it is no different from any other event and I have no concerns on security.”

Malaysia 2014 – race edit (F1)

Video highlights from the last race.

“Moments of conscious and awakening”! (A former F1 doc writes)

“We all need to thank the team taking care of Michael as well as the people around him, for their devotion and patience. Everyone is going to need to be patient – for weeks, months, maybe years.”

Tweets

Comment of the day

@Reiter on the technical intrigue of the new regulations:

To me, what makes this year’s season so exciting isn’t that the cars are green, or hybrid, or energy-efficient. It’s that with the huge amount of new regulations and technical changes, the teams managed to build cars that move at speeds higher than 320kmph with an engine smaller than the bottle of coke you get with a pizza.

That, to me, is what makes it amazing. It’s engineering prowess at its maximum level; and perhaps those who don’t have an engineering background (like I do) find it boring because of those same reasons.

However, I know what I like – and I’m loving everything about this season so far.
@Reiter

From the forum

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Andy Mail, Red Andy and Matt88!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Five years ago today Jenson Button won the Malaysian Grand Prix but only half points were awarded as the race was abandoned due to heavy rain.

The start time of the race had been moved back in order to suit European television audiences better. But the start was so late that once the race was postponed it soon became too dark to continue. The start time was moved earlier again the following year.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

103 comments on “Silverstone boss not concerned about engine noise”

  1. Maybe someone should remind that piece-of-engine-sound called Vettel what being champion really means. There’s much more to it than just collecting a trophy for your collection. There’s a lot more responsibility and he’s the one who should be standing up in the name of the sport (championing it), instead of just exploiting it. I don’t remember he really gave much to the sport that gave him so much, and now he’s even insulting it publicly.

    But it’s usually that way, even with spoiled kids who get things too easily without deserving them. They don’t know how to appreciate it and feel grateful for it.

    1. He gave his opinion on how the engines sound to him. He’s perfectly entitled to prefer the old v8’s. The sport is not a person, it can’t be insulted. I think a driver is entitled to speak his mind, and Vettel usually does so pretty eloquently.

      Maybe you can explain how his comments about engine sounds automatically means he’s a spoiled kid, how he didn’t deserve his success and how he’s exploiting F1?

      Your immature, hateful bias against Vettel couldn’t be more obvious. Let’s have less of your piece-of-engine-sound comments on here, your contempt for a driver adds nothing to the usually informed and reasoned discussions found here.

      1. knoxploration
        5th April 2014, 17:13

        This. And the headline, translated. “Silverstone boss terrified that if he says what he actually thinks of engine noise, he’ll find even less fans show up than will already be the case.”

    2. Way to over-analyze things. And you’re wrong. Vettel only gave his opinion on the new engine sounds (an opinion shared by many) and you’ve somehow turned things around and are criticizing him for it? Good job.

    3. Complete rubbish. I’d rather a driver state his real opinion (and most of the greats have done just that) than roll out some PR filled garbage just to placate the people running the business. I might not like what he has to say all the time, but to state that he has a responsibility to protect the sport is utterly ridiculous.

      If a multi billion dollar business like F1 needs a driver to lie about his feelings so as not to potentially damage it then it’s in more trouble than I thought.

    4. That such vilious bile is the first comment on this article… just because someone expressed an opinion about the sound.

      But then, why expect certain people to treat Vettel with respect?

      1. @raceprouk
        So why is my opinion a “vilious bile” while Vettel is just expressing his opinion? Maybe I’m too just expressing my opinion, in a manner much more appropriate for casual internet chats, than he did when facing the world’s media.

        1. I think the fact that you clearly dislike Vettel and are blatantly using his opinion on the new engines as a pretext to spout off some baseless comments about his personality might have something to do with it…

          1. Couldn’t respond better myself ;-)

          2. @colossal-squid
            What I think about Vettel is based on all the time he spent in F1.

            Something like this?
            “I think the fact that he clearly dislikes losing and is blatantly using mass hysteria on the new engine’s sound as a pretext to spout off some baseless comments”

          3. But his comments on the new engines aren’t baseless? They’re quieter and sound much different. He’s not alone in disliking the new sound.

            You know what is baseless? Saying he’s stating that opinion purely because he’s losing. Where is the merit in that claim?
            And calling it ‘hysteria’ is just you being hysterical about this whole thing.

          4. @colossal-squid

            You know what is baseless? Saying he’s stating that opinion purely because he’s losing. Where is the merit in that claim?

            You think he’d be saying that if he was winning. At least if he was just “stating his opinion”, he wouldn’t try to be so bombastic with his words, being aware of the hysteria already, and trying to cause as much attention as possible by using those words, in turn creating more media pressure to change something in the rules.

            Clear now? Why is eveyone acting so oblivious and acting like a lawyer, banalizing everything into oblivion?
            If you think he isn’t aware of the situation, just because you couldn’t prove it in court, and isn’t aware of what his comments to the world media are doing in this atmosphere and hysteria over an engine sound, you are fooling yourself.

          5. Why is eveyone acting so oblivious and acting like a lawyer, banalizing everything

            Because most of us find a bit silly to extrapolate such a phrase to a massive deal, just so we can use it to complain and borderline insult a driver just because we don’t like him.

            As much as you want to make it a big deal, it really isn’t.

          6. How silly of me to expect you to back up your entirely unfounded claims on the opinion of a man you’ve never met with any kind of substance. Your word is gospel, and we are wrong to doubt your insights.

        2. Your opinion that Vettel is bad because of this is ridiculous, the dislike you seem to have for Vettel isn’t bad for society.

    5. To all the people who are saying it’s just “expressing his opinion” and calling my comment insulting. There’s a way to say things politely, and then there’s a way for being intentionally insulting. I think Vettel has enough brains and was well aware of what he was doing. He was trying to be insulting on purpose. He was addressing the media. It’s not like he was overheard by someone while talking to Rocky in private. He deliberately chose to insult the sport, when he could have said the same thing much more decently while still voicing his opinion without any restrictions. And I do think he is completely out of the line. If he was more grateful he wouldn’t be speaking like that.
      People are such hypocrites.

      1. Out of line like saying he’s a “piece-of-engine-sound” (wonderful euphemism by the way) for having and stating an opinion? Yeah people sure are hypocrites.

      2. Overreacting a bit, aren’t we?

        If he was talking about another person, it would be valid, since bad words can offend people.

        But engine sounds are emotionless entities, calling them a bad word only offends those looking for a reason to be offended.

    6. Don’t see why a simple opinion (and with arguments, he’s always told that story about his first time at Hockenheim and being amaized by the noise and rumble) can get such a bad commentary from fans and other drivers.

      He’s entitled to say whatever he wants…

    7. wow, take a chill pill and try to be objective, terrible comment.

    8. People like you, who blow every little line said out of proportion with a holier-than-you attitude are the reason why we only see political correct PR robots in every major sport, not just F1.
      I like sports not just for the competition but also for the personalities that compete.
      I don’t mind HAMs antics or ALOs silly samurai stuff or VETs crude comments – I actually like them because they make them persons with flaws and strengths and therefore the competition so much more relatable. If all the guys competing are just from the same corporate blend then I wouldn’t care who wins.

    9. A certain youngman named Lewis Hamilton was villified and called ‘hypocritical’ here by quite a number of people for giving his candid opinion regarding Ferrari complaints. The same candid opinion that Vettel gave which people are now saying they love hearing from drivers. While Vettel used an expletive term to describe the sport which has given him so much, Lewis was only civil yet…
      All I am saying is if you like candid opinions from drivers, pls do not pick and choose whose to support. All opinions matter.

    10. It’s a completely immature and hate-filled comment rather than a logical one and I can see where are you coming from.

      Any driver is entitled to his/her opinion about the sport. I am sure you loved Mark for his forthright comments but since you personally hate a driver, you easily label him as a spoilt kid.

      Also, being a world champion does not mean representing the sport in any fashion.

      Apply some sense before putting your fingers on the keyboard.

    11. Wow, sharp words.

      However, I agree with them. I just get the feeling he indeed is ‘using’ the sport with saying these words as he just tries to resonate more with fans by jumping on a bandwagon, or making a stand against the FIA, whatever. I don’t think someone who is claimed to be the most professional – and thus cares nothing about things outside of his influence to win – suddenly gets a change of heart and instead of his usual “it is what it is, we have to accept it” stance, goes into opinion-sharing mode.

      On the plus side, it’s a welcome change from the usual PR robot driver statements, so that’s a plus, definitely. I just don’t think it’s honest.

      1. I have to say @atticus-2 that reading your post, I have to conclude that my thoughts about what Vettel said, and the manner in which he did so, are quite similar to yours.

        1. You mean I was not honest?

          1. eh, no @atticus-2, I meant: well said; clearly shouldn’t be posting while my wife asks me to hurry up :p

          2. Haha, no problem, all sorted now, I also overreacted a bit, as I explain below.

        2. I do think that Vettel’s opinion is probably his, and he’s welcome to it, but the way in which he voiced it isn’t a coincidence, and was meant for effect. Had Renault been the best engine still, it would have been said quite differently, with a lot less drama.

          1. Ah, sorry, I misunderstood you quite a bit there then. Sorry again, I hate it when I do something like this.

            And thanks for not taking it upon yourself.

      2. What I find interesting in this is that Vettel is being hauled up on the FIA carpet most likely because of the word he used to describe the quiet engines, just as JV was for calling grooved tires a joke.

        At the same time we hear the likes of BE bemoaning drivers who are PR robots without personality, and even after JV left F1 BE was still saying F1 needed more personalities like JV.

        Fast forward to 2014 and SV perhaps takes his comment one word too far, like JV did back then, except his wasn’t a swear word, and we have two of the biggest icons in F1, BE and LdM basically doing way more harm with their words about the new F1 than SV, but that’s ‘fine’.

        Classic case of ‘my bat, my ball’. The drivers are allowed personalities…to a point…but the principals can say what they want. I can just hear SV’s defense of his words…’I thought I was towing the party line.’

        Ultimately this isn’t about SV’s opinion…it is about one word…just as it was for JV.

      3. goes into opinion-sharing mode.

        Eh… He was asked a question and he answered. It’s not different to the hundreds of times he’s done that.

    12. GB (@bgp001ruled)
      6th April 2014, 3:49

      man: you should better refrain of writing so much rubbish!!!

  2. what a load of garbage. vettel , a person that i do not hold any regard for, is entitled to an opinion as much as you are. it’s called freedom of speech pal. besides he is only echoing what millions of people feel anyway. i suggest that you consider what i have said and take note.

    1. Millions…..lol

      Talk about exaggeration.

      It’s a minority that don’t like the new engines.

      Some don’t like them for legitimate reasons. Most because it doesn’t suit them or their driver.

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        5th April 2014, 1:32

        @djdaveyp87 well, condidering that F1 has at least 10 million fans (and it may be underestimated) and at least 20 % say it, well yes, there you have at least 2 million people bothered by the (lack of) noise, me included, and as far as I recall, all of the few F1 followers I asked about this in Peru (it’s not so popular here but still I can talk about it with a bunch of people) don’t like the noise.

        1. So all 10 million fans have been surveyed? No a sample has been. Therefore it is a guess.

          1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
            5th April 2014, 1:45

            @djdaveyp87 not all have been sampled of course, but I guess F1 does have millions of fans, so a big portion is annoyed by this new sound. Check this site’s poll and you can see that even when it’s not majority or so, there’s a big group who don’t like the new sound.
            Of course there are bigger problems in F1 right now.

          2. Extrapolation. You don’t need to ask every single F1 fan. It’s part of how statistics regarding large groups of people works.

            Plus 10 million F1 fans globally would be the very low end of the scale. A quick google had viewership of the entire 2010 season at 527 million. Say every fan watches every race that’s still about 30 million. Fair to say a few million don’t like the engines. No definite proof, but the balance of probability says its true.

          3. @colossal-squid Isn’t that why surveys can’t be trusted. Extrapolation isn’t exactly a science.

          4. @f1sidewinda You’re absolutely right, polls can be unreliable and skew data – just look at the recent Ferrari poll. Still, done right they can be a valuable tool. Not definitive proof of anything, or 100% accurate, but a decent indicator of opinion. Anyway my point is it’s not unreasonable to suggest with F1’s global fanbase that there are a couple million of them who dislike the new engines.

      2. @djdaveyp87 But at least a big minority, though, from what I can see.

        1. Extrapolation is the one of the worst waya ever of saying “people want this”

          Governments use it all the time and it’s totally wrong. The only way to get a true perspective would be to literally ask everybody and that is nearly impossible.

          This is a site of people who care more about f1 than to just watch it on tv. So your effectively only getting the opinion of a particular type of fan here.

          1. And just to add.to this. I never see.keoth use his statistics to represent all fans. He generally always say x% of f1 fanatic readers… or x% of people who took pur poll.

          2. Good to hear the expert opinion of a true master of statistics like yourself :-)

            Keep up the good work!

      3. Well djdaveyp85, I wonder where in the world you are from. Seems very narrow-sighted and maybe happy because of your guy is cruising in the front? For sure millions…

    2. Seb: “I realise everyone thinks I don’t like the sound because I have not won yet, but I don’t care, I stand by what I said. I am a fan of the old F1”

      …says it all I think.

      …we are many many that share his concern and FIA choose a very dangerous direction some years back. Time to bite the bullet and acknowledge that LOUD is part of the F1 basic values. Otherwise many many fans will walk away… It has already start to happen, time for decisions quite soon Mr Todt!

  3. I think it’s a bit much for Sebastian Vettel to have to meet with Jean Todt over his opinion on the engines. I realise it makes the FIA look a little bit silly when the reigning World Champion expresses concerns like this, but come on – he’s just stating an opinion.

    1. I think this paragraph explains why:

      The FIA could have charged Vettel under article 151c of the sporting regulations with bringing the sport into disrepute for his remark, but Press Association Sport understands Todt instead wrote a personal letter to Vettel in which he reminded him of his responsibilities.

      Better to have a quiet word methinks ;-)

      1. @raceprouk @slr A quiet word is picking up the telephone and reminding VET of his obligations, not drag him into the principals office in front of all the journalists…

        1. The Independent article linked to makes no mention of journalists @dragoll

      2. Are they going to charge Bernie?

    2. Exactly, its an opinion. The FIA’s reason for going this route in engine technology was for road relevance as such the sound of the engines were always secondary to the regulations. So saying the engines sound like whatever, is the reality which shouldn’t distract from the technological advances made in producing the engines. Almost all the drivers have said the engines sound different, so Vettel isn’t unique, only he just gave it a more colourful description.

    3. He just shouldn’t have swore, it’s as simple as that. He was warned last year, everybody else holds their four letter words in, why can’t VET?

    4. I think it says a lot abt the management style in FIA – do not question the decisions by the top even how crazy they are. Seb loves F1 and he has balls….

      1. Do not question the decisions by the top…even when some of the top seems to agree.

    5. I wasn’t happy with the way he expressed his opinion, but it certainly doesn’t require this.

  4. That sound comparison – it sounds like the F1 mics either have too much insulation, or terrible lower frequency response. Or both, maybe?

    1. The mic’s in both Indycar & F1 are in roughly the same place (Sidepods) & pretty much identical as far as specs go.

      The only difference is that F1 runs a stereo setup, A mic in each side-pod.
      Indycar only has a single mic placed in the right hand side-pod.

      The other difference is that Indycar still has the exhaust exiting out the top of the side-pod while F1 has the single exit out the rear.

      I’d also compare it to the direct in-car feed coming straght from FOM as the audio on the in-car shots shown on the world-feed is up-mixed to 5.1 & most broadcasters seem to be doing something to there own sound-mix which is affecting the volume for some reason.

      http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1k6tgd_brief-magnussen-onboard_auto
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3iblgIIDoY

      1. The sound in those videos is so much better – what on earth did Sky do to the audio feed?

      2. FOM’s Surround sound is effectively quadrophonic in my opinion, as the LFE channel isn’t used, and the Centre channel is blank except for a simulcast of the world feed’s team radio content, as that’s the channel on which the broadcasters insert their commentary into.

        Sky also reduce the volume of the world feed’s 5.1 audio track as a whole though, compared to the raw one. The commentary itself on the centre channel is much louder. I feel that Sky don’t need to bias the commentary (in terms of volume) so much.

        1. If GP2 or GP3 is filmed in 5.1 (which of course contains commentery provided & mixed by FOM), i’ll be able to see what the volume levels are like on that & what the difference is between the commentary channel and the Natural Sounds channels, and then see how FOM mix it. I would imagine they would do a better job. Of course with Sky, it’s all ego-boosting and self-promotion with them IMO so I’m not surprised if they boost their own commentary audio levels, over the world feed more than is necessary.

  5. Only $1.2B? I thought they were throwing $250mil+ at it each year, if not more?

    1. Sounds low to me, too.

      I assume it only means the original investment made by Red Bull, and that afterwards the team’s budget was mostly covered by sponsors.

  6. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    5th April 2014, 1:13

    Vettel can state his opinion, but as the image of the sport (being the world champion puts him on the spotlight) he should care his words a little more. He can still say he dislikes the sound, but with an “E” label.

    1. Yeah, he’s trying to be all cool and funny by using bad words but instead he looks childish and vulgar, that’s the only thing he did wrong in my opinion.

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        5th April 2014, 2:02

        @mantrsx I remember once the head of Michelin, in an interview for FOXLA said that same word Vettel used in Spanish. Surprising when it’s used once, but then one of the comentators (remember Juan Fazzini?) started repeating that literally over and over until it was totally out of the place and out of fun.

        1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
          5th April 2014, 2:02

          @mantresx that was for ou sorry for the mispell

        2. Well there you go, sometimes they forget they’re talking to millions instead of just the interviewer or the camera, Ok Sebastian didn’t want to be famous but it comes with the territory.

    2. @omarr-pepper
      As a 5 star general in the anti-Red Bull army, i always dislike all what comes from Milton Keynes, but this time i liked the way Vettel is bothering Monsieur Todt and the FIA in general like he did with the donuts in India, i just hope it’s his opinion and not some PR strategy from Red Bull to exploit in their war with the FIA over the fuel sensor,
      it sounds old school for me that the drivers have strong personalities to challenge the FIA which is doing a great work in making the drivers look like robots for obvious PR reasons, the old drivers like Jochen Rindt, Niki Lauda, Gilles Villeneuve, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost and the naughty Ayrton……. used to have strong personalities that sometimes they were even making fun of Jean Marie Balestre
      Piquet vs Balstre, Lauda & Piquet vs Balestre, Ayrton vs Balestre, Ayrton & Prost & Piquet vs Balestre
      Monsieur Todt wants actually to talk to Vettel which represent a good voice for the fans who are hating the FIA and the way the sport is run day after day

      1. well spoken Tifoso.
        the mgmt style by Mr Balestre is for sure well maintained by Mr Todt.

      2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        5th April 2014, 14:10

        @tifoso1989 thanks for the links. And well, I agree with you, Seb’s opinions get the right timing to help his team´s fuss, and as I read above, if he were winning his opinion could have been softened, but the “ifs” are always contradictory, and the truth is Seb really looks like part of the “old school”, he’s kind of obsessed with infromation and records from those days. Let’s hope Todt doesn’t end up being a second Balestre.

  7. I am getting really sick of the rubbish coming out of Newey, Horner and Vettel’s mouths at the moment. If they had Mercedes engines they would not be complaining one iota about either the competitiveness, sound or efficiency of the new F1.

    This is purely sour grapes, nothing else.

    You don’t hear the smaller teams, or even Lotus, who are having a ‘mare, complaining to the extent of RBR. Someone in their PR department needs to explain to them that it’s not how you win, it’s how you lose that shows your character, and on current performance they are doing a utterly shoddy job.

    1. Well Bleeps_and_Tweaks, can I suggest you stop and think for a while. Could it be that RBR and Ferrari have balls enough to express their true view while Lotus for instance are struggling to pay their bills and can’t afford a dispute with FIA?

      1. Nope, remember the whinging sound coming from Milton Keynes last year until they got the tyres changed mid season last year? They are on an all-out offensive to b*tch and moan until somebody gives them their dummy. This is what a spoilt child looks like, not a champ… Vet has always been thus… Look at the way he tries to squeeze opponents off the track when he starts badly, look at how he called for “multi 1-2” in 2012 when he was leading a race and Web was catching him… The kid fools some with a “nice-guy” personality, but to me he’s just a spoilt little brat.

  8. To the COTD, you definitely don’t have to be an engineer to appreciate this new era of Formula 1, even if you just scratch the surface of the new technology you can enjoy the action in so many levels that you couldn’t do with a normal sport.

    That being said there’s A LOT of people who have zero interest in anything technical, the same way you and I care about Lewis’ girlfriend, Kimi’s personal life or Vettel’s child: can’t be bothered.

    1. I have zero interest in all those things you just named that arent worth repeating.

    2. Oh I didn’t mean to say that you have to be an engineer to enjoy it, but it certainly does add another layer of appreciation for me. In any case, I’ve been following Formula 1 since years before I became an engineer, and it definitely played a part in getting me into it! Even nowadays with so many silly things like DRS and artificial tyre degradation and Lewis Hamilton’s haircut, I still love it because of the so many other levels of action it provides.

  9. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    5th April 2014, 2:20

    Whilst I don’t agree with Vettel on the new engines and their sounds. I respect him immensely for speaking his mind and not being restricted by PR rules.

    Kudos Seb!

    1. @tophercheese21
      You are incredible naive if you think he was just being spontaneous. There was a lot of planning behind that.

      1. A lot of planning behind “a piece of tralala sound”?

        Are you serious?

  10. I’m actually one of those people who think political correctness is a good thing.

    But when talking about people (or groups of). Even for my standards, making a deal out of using a bad word to describe engine noise is waaay too much.

    There again, SV is a public personality so he should be more careful about the language he uses.

    There again (again!) it’s just noise for God’s sake. I’m sure it will get over it.

  11. “I realise everyone thinks I don’t like the sound because I have not won yet, but I don’t care, I stand by what I said. I am a fan of the old F1.”

    I am far from a vettel fan but got to give him respect for saying what he really thinks.

    1. Even if he is not old enough to know the old F1, but of course for him the old v8 was F1, same for many fans as well I guess.

      1. He stated that “old” F1 that he loves the most was the early 90’s. Which was when he first became a fan(1992 i think)

  12. I just saw that Bahrain is the 3rd night course in history. Obviously there is Singapore. What was the third?

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      5th April 2014, 3:34

      Abu Dhabi.

  13. If anyone looks at my profile, they’ll see that I’m a VET supporter, and I’ve always been a supporter of German F1 drivers, as my background is German. However, this year is suppose to be the defining year of VET, claimed by a lot of journalists after the testing issues that RBR and Renault experienced. I also agree with the journos for once, while everything is rosey, its easy, and this year is going to be anything but easy for VET.
    I for one, don’t like this side of VET, as with everything, nothing can last forever, even Schumi who I regard as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time couldn’t win everything. IMHO Seb has become accustomed to winning races and he’s behaving a little bit like a spoilt brat, not just based on this one comment, but together with the frustrated radio messages, and the quotes we’re getting from him on a regular basis, its clear to me that he hasn’t accepted the fact that RBR are struggling, not yet anyway. Once he accepts that, then he can be more constructive moving forward, I believe he just needs to focus on the task and leave the side shows to others in the team, as if he’s going to have any hope of winning a race this season, he needs to focus 100% on that task.
    As it stands right now, Merc are on course for repeating the William’s domination of the ’93 season or the McLaren domination in ’88. And while people were complaining about the domination of RBR in recent years, Merc are very much on another planet this year, and people will be begging for a field spread like 2012 & 2013.

    1. @dragoll you’re reading way too much into one small line that was perpetuated by the media to get clicks and visits on their websites.
      Seb is many things but easily distracted is not one of them, he was asked a question, he answered honestly, the media smelled blood and jumped on it.
      I didn’t hear any frustrated radio messages,just one in Australia and I don’t know of of any other driver who wouldn’t be frustrated in that situation. If there is one, he should reconsider his priorities.

    2. he hasn’t accepted the fact that RBR are struggling, not yet anyway

      They aren’t – at least not at 2008 levels or anything like that.

      Besides, Vettel’s position in the championship is better than at the same stage in 2009. he finished 2nd that year, so….

  14. You know, I don’t think vettel (or for that matter most, if not all, of the rest of the grid) cares too much about what we’re saying – apart from the HTML coder at Ferrari that created that form.

  15. Seems to me people praising Vettel for “saying what he thinks” have got things backwards. For one thing, saying what you think is not a praiseworthy achievement on its own, last time I checked. For another, he is the reigning four-time world champion of a sport that has made him a very, very rich man – a little respect for everyone involved is the least he can do. Third, it fits with his personality to be honest: the girl names for cars, etc – I still say he’s really a bit of a dork trying to be cool.

    1. I still say he’s really a bit of a dork trying to be cool.

      That’s some powerful high-school logic right there.

  16. I am really surprised with the number of people who are bothered whether Vettel should say what he want or shouldn’t. Big deal made over a silly issue. It’s just an engine sound. Like it or not, this is going to stay and no amount of public or personal opinion or polls is going to change that. Ask Bernie.

    1. Ask Bernie.

      Bad idea, he’s one of persone who wants the rules changed :-P

  17. For sure Vettel is allowed to state his opinion, yes. He’s one of the more experienced drivers on the grid now, so we should really listen. However he can do more than just call them what he did, iI they’re so bad, you come up with a way to make them sound better.

    1. You can’t. they sound how they sound. That’s it.

  18. Mark Hughes article is an interesting read btw. He applies a good theory which might be true.

    1. Yeah I guess stranger things have happened, but I would think it would be awfully risky to potentially shoo away millions of fans in order to devalue F1 intentionally to make it easier to buy…but now what are you buying? Something devalued. And now what do you do, having gotten your way, to claw back all those lost fans?

      Hard to say, and I’m sure there are more ins and outs to this than even Hughes knows, and it sure is curious that BE, on day one of winter testing, with hardly any one on track, starts trashing the quiet engines…yet upon attending a race hauled back from that opinion a bit. Perhaps the goal initially was to at
      least put that bug in people’s ear. Him saying it has given ‘permission’ for anyone and everyone to say it. LdM included…not that he needed permission.

  19. So what’s the big deal? Vettel calls the new engines s!@#, but I still like the new sound. He’s entitled to his opinion just like me and all the others. I’m not going to quit watching F1 just because some drivers say they don’t like it anymore, what’s important is that I still like it. So I don’t consider that Vettel does any damage to the sport if he says he preffers things to be different. But the FIA does more damage to the image of Formula 1 by applying such Gestapo-ish ways to handle things.

    1. applying such Gestapo-ish ways to handle things

      A stern letter is nothing like the Gestapo

  20. I just wish that people would quit whining about the engine noise. Yes, it is not as loud as a V8 or V10, but guess what? F1 isn’t going to go back to either of them. The new formula isn’t just about the direction F1 is going, but where Racing as a sport is going. Le Mans cars are utilizing similar regulations to F1, to make the cars more efficient so that they are quick, but also so that the technology they use in the sport can be transferred to everyday cars. I agree, the Turbo V6 of today does not have that throaty roar of the V10 or V12, but look at the challenge it is giving the drivers. Last year you would only see a few occasions of the top drivers making mistakes, and most of the time the cars looked very stable. This year even the top guys (Vettel, Alonso, Raikkonen) have shown that the new formula has made it more of a driver’s sport. Even Hamilton in the Grid Decimating WO5 has had run offs, and mistakes, which shows that the Drivers are having to use every bit of their talent, even when in a top team. Sorry for the rant, but i just wish everyone would wait and take in everything that happens this season, before demanding that F1 goes back to what it was last year. Because you never know, this season may turn out to be the best we’ve seen yet.

Comments are closed.