New louder exhaust “didn’t work” – Rosberg

2014 F1 season

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Nico Rosberg says the new exhaust tried by Mercedes which was intended to amplify the volume of the V6 turbo engines “didn’t work”.

Mercedes ran a wider exhaust on their car during today’s test at the Circuit de Catalunya in an attempt to address criticism that the new engines are too quiet.

“We tried the new exhaust today, just as a team we want to do good for the sport,” he said in a video posted on Twitter.

“Unfortunately, though, it wasn’t a great solution, it just didn’t work, it didn’t make it much louder.

“So we’ll just have to try for another solution, we’ll try pushing.”

Rosberg covered 102 laps of the track and ended the day with the second-fastest time.

2014 F1 season


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Image via Miquel Liso on Twitter

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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...

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157 comments on “New louder exhaust “didn’t work” – Rosberg”

  1. Tell Merc to have a flick through Max Power or Redline magazine.. I’m sure there’s some messed up Peugeot 106 in there with the loudest exhaust in the world strapped at the back of its 1l engine! ;)

    1. well the problem with turbo engines and especially these f1 engines is that the exhaust gas has no kinetic energy left to make any noise at all, they use it to produce power, which personally believe is way more important than making noise…all they have to do is force them rev higher by limiting the turbo boost …it is the high pitch nature of the sound that makes f1 so special not the decibels.

      1. 15,000rpm is higher than any road engine, and probably more than any other racing engine. The sound is lower pitched more because of the single exhaust (bigger pipe = lower frequency) and of course the natural resonances of a V6 compared to a V8.

        An interesting comparison: the Toyota TS040 (3.4l V8) and the Porsche 919 (2.0l V4). The Toyota V8 screams, while the Porsche V4 growls. Yet both engines rev to around the same level.
        Similar to the F1 V8 vs V6 in many ways ;-)

        1. They are limited to 15 000 rpm but due to fuel savings they choose to change gear much earlier. They seldom pass over 13 000 rpm. Still higher than any normal car.

          1. Aqib (@aqibqadeer)
            15th May 2014, 18:23

            At 10500 rpm engine is most efficient they run them at 12000 rpm to get a margin for all the gears i think

        2. @raceprouk, MotoGP 4cyl 1L engines rev to 18,000+ while F1 have no incentive to rev over the 10,500 mark at which point max fuel flow occurs. The Porsche comparison is a good one, watching Q at Barcelona I was reminded of the sound of a Porsche 911 Turbo flat out.

          1. pxcmerc (@)
            15th May 2014, 3:21

            yup, after finally getting a chance to see the rev gauges, it would seem 10,500 seems to be the peak of usable power, with the cars going beyond only in a very few occasions, and holding steady to it down the straight.

      2. Oh, and if you want quiet, try the Audi R18. That diesel V6 is barely louder than a typical sports car ;-)

        1. do they also use mufflers and partical filters on the diesels? they only rev to about 5000rpm also. that suits lemans, as that motorsport is about technology heading to road cars.

  2. For those who just can’t watch F1 without loud noises perhaps Sky could introduce a red button feature whereby sounds of the old v8’s (even v10’s) are dubbed over the live broadcast. They could add in fake crash noises to replays and play a dubstep clip for each overtake.

    That should keep people happy.

    1. Nigelstash (@)
      14th May 2014, 19:15

      Comment of the day! :-)

    2. Quinn (@quinnolabar)
      14th May 2014, 19:43

      +1

    3. Brilliant :D

    4. PLEASE, PLEASE….make this COTD!!! @keithcollantine

    5. and special button for 1m flames! :-)

    6. Good solution :)

      1. You just won the Internets today :) Congratualtions.

    7. Matin Brundle: “and we see a replay of Kvyat overtaking Gutierrez…” *V12 screams* *massive CGI explosions* *CGI earthquakes crack the track* *camera shakes* *dubstep* Yes I very much like your idea. Contact FOM immediately!

    8. I think they should introduce an extra commentator whose only job is to make engine noises himself.

      1. …bring that sound effects guy from Police Academy over

        1. That was actually who I had in mind!

      2. Excellent. I’d love that !
        I propose we hire Eddie Jordan.

        1. They would have to replace the mics everyday due to his excessive spitting .

    9. Brilliant! COTD!

    10. I’ll prefer yackety-sax.

    11. @daffron – Brilliant, just brilliant!

    12. With a Moto GP option….

    13. Complete with CGI sparks, smoke, light trails in night races, exhaust fire and bullet time at overtakes!

    14. soundscape (@)
      15th May 2014, 4:15

      Forget COTD, this might be the best comment I’ve read on this site. Bloody. BRILLIANT.

      1. Agreed!!!! Lol!!!

    15. its a funny comment. but the sound is obviously an issue, as Mercedes would not be doing this test, and the FIA would not have sent sound engineers to the test. sound is part of the f1 package – a huge part of f1s history, now the sound factor is not there – it is a huge blight on the show. for the past 2 decades f1 has not been the standout racing series, but made up for it because the cars were the fastest, and they sounded the best. now there is not much left for some fans – 1 quiet car winning every race, and then a processional 2nd tier series behind it. the cars are not the peak of technology anymore either, lemans is way ahead on that basis. f1 is becoming a joke. it literally offers nothing now over any other series. the cars are still fastest – but that is only because they weigh so little.

      1. I wouldn’t consider F1 a joke by any means… the assessment of contrivances such as DRS, arbitrary design limitations and devolutionary tire technology are all very important to the future of next generation vehicles.

      2. it literally offers nothing now over any other series. the cars are still fastest

        It literally does then. Also, I’d say that the calibre of the drivers, despite some paying for seats, gives it probably the most talented grid in motorsport.

    16. Aqib (@aqibqadeer)
      15th May 2014, 18:25

      it would be great but it would be almost impossible to match the amount of throttle the driver is giving

    17. Aqib (@aqibqadeer)
      15th May 2014, 18:26

      they should also add a troll face over Maldonado’s face when he crashes into somebody

  3. The amount of money they have in F1… this is the best solution?

    Couldn’t they make a better solution? What about 3 into 1 with 2 seperate pipes coming out the back ? Wouldn’t that give it a bit more pitch at the high revs? It would look a lot better than a halfords job!

    I am personally not fussed about the sound. Yes I like the v10s but I am actually enjoying hearing the cars work. I love the tyre sequel, I love the whistle of the turbo and I love hearing the cars scrape across the ground.

    1. Thats a great idea. Then they can decide which bank of exhaust gets put through the turbo, depending on which way they have to turn more.

    2. At first, I support the new engine because it is the future of cars (not only F1)..but then when I watch GP2 races I was like pumped for the roar and hope F1 back to V10 and don’t care how much fuel cost.

    3. @marc512 that’s exactly the solution I wouldn’t want because it means that the engine regs have to be changed and the exhaust layout is an integral part to the whole solution – even narrowing the pipe (which would also increase pitch and volume) would be an enormous technical challenge. And there is a real chance that Merc might lose it’s advantage – I hated it when they pulled it on RBR in 2011, so I’d have a hard time condoning such a move now.

      I’m fine with the sound as it is and agree with you that it’s actually more fun on TV – but also at the same time I have nothing against making them louder if they can do so without touching the current regs then why not.

  4. Duck call BOV.
    If you haven’t searched it on YouTube, you gotta try.

  5. That looks pretty ridiculous.

  6. Merc is just trolling

      1. I knew they were playing games, even if you wanna make a louder exhaust you won’t put a trumpet on it xD People either drill holes or make it a dual exhaust or something, none puts trumpet like thing on the back, damn.. good one mercedes

      2. Hahahaha!
        Thanks for that link

  7. So Mercedes’ complex engineering solution was to weld a cone to the end?

    1. Genuinely laughed out loud at that. COTD! It does look daft.

    2. @george
      If you were running Merc, would you really invest your time and resources into this thing? Into a device which is illegal according to the current regulations and which may end up not being used at all. It’s not Mercedes’ responsibility to fix this.

  8. I still don’t know if they are serious, or if the whole thing is a great big joke.
    I mean, it seams that as i was younger, most 14 yo kids in my village had a sort of “moped”, really small motorbike for which you didn’t need a license. And the art of some of them was to make the bloody thing about as loud as an helicopter. But Mercedes can’t… Oo ?

    1. The only way to increase the volume of these engines is to reduce the amount of energy extracted by the turbo. There is very little energy left in the exhaust gasses by the time they leave the exhaust in these engines, and it is this energy which produces the noise.

      This would make the engine less efficient, produce less power, and use more fuel.

      What F1 team in their right mind would do that? More importantly, why would anyone want them to? In an F1 car, the point of the engine is to push the car around the track as fast as possible, not to make noise

  9. That exhaust looks hilarious. Are we sure this isn’t a joke lol

      1. Lol…gotta love Sachmo!

  10. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    14th May 2014, 18:40

    I guess that after seeing Chilton topping the times, they just don’t want to risk their usual performance for the dubious honor to have the loudest car.

  11. Haha, that’s ridiculous!

    When I saw the photo of just the exhaust in a tweet yesterday I thought it was a practical joke, I can’t believe they actually stuck it on the car!

    1. F1 is demeaning itself by entertaining such ridiculous notions.

      Meanwhile, the emperor ecclestone is parading around with no clothes.

      The Monaco Grand Prix can’t happen soon enough to get some of these simpering foolish farces that have nothing whatsoever to do with F1 racing out of the limelight.

  12. Maybe they should fit some sort of whistle/amplifier instead of that cone. When I was a child, I used to have some rubber toys that made some sounds when pressed. There was a valve with a whistle attached.

    1. In the same vein, what about strategically attaching a playing card so it hits the wheel spokes? That made my big wheel sound hella fierce when I was a kid.

      1. Ben (@scuderia29)
        15th May 2014, 13:25

        @dmw hahaha “hella fierce” i know that exact sound youre talking about, i just ripped off a scrap piece of card board

    2. @corrado-dub,@dmw, Google “Kahlenberg” for more inspiration.

  13. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…

    Did I mention stupid?

    1. @bullmello +1, +1, +1….did I mention +1?

  14. Holy moly, F1 is beyond lost.

  15. You know Mercedes is way ahead of the game if they can waste resources in making their engine sound better while everyone else is looking at finding a few tenths.

    By the way .. attaching a megaphone to the exhaust was never going to work :P

    1. Well, it appears they DIDN’T waste anything!

  16. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. Including this year’s Toro Rosso. Please God can it never be raced, it’s looks a clown car.

  17. I wonder how much effort that actually put into that. Presumably they didn’t want to adversely affect the horsepower of the engine. If an outside person was told to design it and not care whether they cut the engines power by 10 horsepower (or more) then I’m sure thy could have come up with something better and louder.

    Having said that I don’t think they should change the noise. It’s fine the way it is.

  18. Lack of engine/exhaust noise is NOT a problem that needs solving. Since broadcasters can not devise a microphone/sound system that lowers/filters the engine noise to a lower decibel when a commentator is talking this solves the problem …. now we can actually hear what the reporter in the garage or on the wall has to report!!!! Besides taking an unpleasant noise and amplifying it does not make it sound more like a V12 / V10 / V8 without a turbo!! Thanks, RnR

    1. @racernorriski Why is it that nobody else seems to notice this obvious benefit? I’ve been thinking this all along and I can actually get more into the broadcast because I know what even the track side reporters and pit line guys are saying now!

      1. Not to mention the roars of the croud, the tyre squeels, etc !
        And even a better acceptance of the population around the track (I think of The A1 ring for instance)
        They say F1 is quieter that GP2 ? Great ! Another reason for me to follow F1 even more assiduously.

      2. Cant say I have EVER struggled to hear pit lane reports…

        1. You clearly haven’t watched the US feed on NBCSports. Will Buxton used to get drowned out by cars so much that it used to be a joke on the set for the guys back in the studio.

  19. Just when you though the cars couldn’t get any uglier…we have finally progressed into the land of the absurd. Just forget about the sound for now, fewer cylinders + decreased revs + turbo chargers = less volume…it is what it is; concentrate on the racing, and add dual exhausts for 2015.
    On the other hand, maybe they could put palying cards on clothespins in the spokes of the wheels to make that cool “motor” sound like you did on your bike as a kid.

    1. I keep suggesting that too. I guess they just don’t recognize the benefit of old fashioned playing cards in the spokes the way us Americans do LOL

      1. but I’m Australian and I said it 1st.

        1. LOL I always thought that was just a silly thing we did here in America with baseball cards! Thanks for expanding my horizons!

          Where in Australia? I used to spend a lot of time in Brisbane (actuallly Coolum beach). :)

  20. Watching the few videos on YouTube of this thing at work make it seem like, if anything, it makes it sound worse. People will stop whining about the sound once FOM put an amplifier on the broadcast feed and get it over with.

    1. And stop watching videos recorded from half a mile away on a smartphone :-P

      1. Those kind of videos gave us a pretty accurate measure of how the cars would sound back during testing. I don’t see why they wouldn’t work again.

  21. Quite frankly I did’nt think they were stupid enough to believe that it would. This was just a publicity stunt

  22. Having sat trackside at turn 2 on Saturday and Sunday, I foresaw F1 in 2020, where families had free trackside picnics, chatting and listening to local bands, while silent, electric powered F1 cars ambled past during a 2 hour long economy run.
    After loving the sound and fury of Spa and Monza in 2012, I flew half way across the world to listen to …. well not much really.
    Will be very suprised if fans dont vote with their feet in the next year or two, as the visceral thrill that was F1 has gone.
    IMHO, if you are planning a trip to a race later this year, consider Monaco, but otherwise try NASCAR.

  23. This must be a practical joke. Mercedes has got some spare time. By the way, such a trumpet won´t create nothing. It´s just ridiculous and shows which level the “sound debate” has reached!
    Mercedes better should change their firing order again, to Jerez level, their engine sounds like a muted Panoz car.

    By the way, the Lotus-Renault had a different tone today, due to new motormapping?
    Anyway, Ferrari and Renault engine sound OK to me. Loud enough.
    FOM still better should watch out for the quality of TV broadcast as the sound on many amateur videos still is much better tha on the official FOM coverage…on purpose???

    1. Maybe they should try adding a megatron to the exhaust.

    2. the sound on many amateur videos still is much better

      Because the microphones on amateur video devices tend to be lower quality than the broadcast equipment.
      As such you tend to get far more noise distortion recording on things like mobile phones & a lot of other handheld cameras used by fans & that tends to make things seem more raw & in many cases louder than they actually are.

      The sound you hear through the broadcast mic’s used by FOM tends to be a lot closer to how things actually sound than what you hear from fan made recordings unless the fan is recording the footage with a mid/high-end camera.

  24. They should put it on the front.

  25. F1 as a spectacle is no more. These hybrid engines are never going to make a proper racing sound and they are in no way comparable to the eighties turbo. There has been some good racing this year though which may save a mass TV audience from switching off.

  26. A lot of people have said noise doesn’t matter. It does to me. In fact, I’ve spoken to people who have regularly gone to Grands Prix as neutrals for years and said they wouldn’t go next year because the atmosphere just isn’t the same. And it isn’t. I was at the GP in Barcelona and when the GP2 cars were louder it was extremely disappointing and a little bit sad.

    As a long time fan, the noise won’t stop my passion for F1, but it’s another thing that isn’t enticing new people to watch or neutrals to keep watching.

    1. Exactly Jarnoo. I think for TV audiences it’s even worse…the lack of spectacle. It’s like watching formula three. I went to a few Grand Prix myself in the Eighties and those cars with wide tyres and wide chassis were awesome and turbos that certainly made a good sound.

    2. …and I`ve met many people up to now being in Melbourne or Malaysia who say the opposite, they like to hear tires squeal, crowds cheer and now they can take also their children near the racetrack. Newcomers wouldn´t mind as they never heard the V8. And the cars noise is still representative to F1, like it was in the eighties.

    3. I agree with @jarnooo. It matters to me & it mattered to pretty much everyone I spoke to in our favourite bar in Montmelo after each day’s practise/qualifying/racing. I have a greater appreciation of the technical changes that have led to much quieter engines, but my wife commented that the ‘wow’ factor has been diluted for her & remarked how much better the GP2 cars sounded. She still had a great weekend due to the great vibe at the track, strong supporting GP2/GP3 races (amazing how few people bother to turn up to see these series) and having Lewis, Jenson & Max give us & our Union Jack a wave on the parade lap, but I worry that she and others may be a bit less enthused to attend races in the future?

      The number of empty seats in Barcelona was worrying : Stand A on Turn 2 was no more than half full and there were no others in our row or the row behind until others seated further back moved forwards, and there did not seem to be that many people on the grass banks opposite. Some of the other stands were far from full & it would be interesting to know how the attendance compares to recent post-financial crisis years.

      1. Honestly, I’m surprised that anyone living in Spain can afford to go to a F1GP.

  27. If they pinch the exhaust rather than expanding it I’m sure the cars would make a really loud sound…once!

    1. @robbie LMAO!!! I almost missed this one, brilliant :)

  28. Why not just add a vuvuzela to the back end if you want it louder? This is a ridiculous farce and I hope this pathetic scene shocks or shames the noise-dissidents into silence.

  29. Just stop the silly regulations and lose the rev limit and fuel flow limits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    It saddens me greatly to see my favorite sport ruined and I for one won’t spend a dime until the sport sorts itself out.

  30. Hands up, how many people decrying the attempts to improve the sound as ‘artificial’ also disagree with changing the aero regulations to make the finger noses go away? Both scenarios involve the ‘artificial’ modification of something that has emerged as a consequence of teams working within the rules.

    1. My hand is up and I think I’m in good company. I also wish today’s WEC cars all looked like the XJR-14 , but I know that people in hell want ice-water too.

      In any case, if you look at the results of the races, you will see that the finger-nose cars are not doing so hot anyway, a fact that has received little notice thus far. So I expect McLaren, F1, etc., to ditch that design next year.

      1. That’s hardly the point though. It’s merely coincidental that the less aesthetic engineering solutions don’t seem to be working as well and may soon phase themselves out. (A fact which the performance of Red Bull and recent resurgence of Lotus disputes to some extent).

        It’s okay if you prefer the new sound, but characterizing any attempt to change the sound as artificial while simultaneously asking for regulations that don’t make the cars look fugly is a monumental exercise in hypocrisy.

        1. Well, I’m not asking to change the look of the cars for aesthetics. I can’t speak for others, but I think many agree with me. And I’m not sure that hypocrisy is monumental. The sound of an F1 car now is a sound of a car engine. Just one some people don’t rate. The finger noses tend to shock the conscience and have no precedent or analogue. These are different things and you don’t have accept some kind of formalistic approach to aesthetics to have a valid point.

      2. @dmw A bit offtopic, but I think the nose solutions depend on balancing the downforce between the front and rear of the car. Using a high nose (with finger) provides more airflow to the cars floor and diffuser, giving higher rear downforce. But using a more ‘conventional’ nose such as Mercedes and Ferrari have gives more downforce at the front. So it could be that Merc and Ferrari have sufficient rear downforce from the floor, bodywork etc, that they need more on the front to balance, hence not adopting the finger nose solution. It would make sense to me that the cars with inherently high rear downforce would be amongst the fastest on the grid (power units aside) – therefore making it seem like the finger-nose concept is a weakness for other teams, where it could actually just be trying to compensate for lower rear downforce.

        The exception is Redbull, which despite clearly having high overall downforce uses a variation of the finger nose (or high-nose) solution. That doesn’t really fit with my theory, but as we know aero design depends on the overall aero concept so I doubt they would change to the low nose design without radically overhauling the whole car (probably not within this season).

        Ofc it was also mentioned (by a Caterham engineer in one of Ted Kravitz’s pre-season notebook sessions I think) that the nose is not the most performance sensitive area of the car which is why so many different concepts have been adopted by different teams to suit their particular aero profile.

        1. Williams also have what I’ll call a nacelle nose. It’s not trying to lift the nose and maximize airflow to the splitter, but it’s also not trying to create downforce on the nose. I’m not sure what it’s doing. But it makes sense that teams with this nose are confident in rear DF. This may also by why the Ferrari looks like it’s drifing in the corners—too much front DF and a failure to deliver rear DF.

  31. You guys can make all the fun of it you want, it is ridiculous of course, but the bigger issue is that the f1 series are in crisis, its feeder series even overlaps the lap times and races are utterly unexciting, the sound of engines being short shifted and coasted through corners does register with anyone with just a little bit of gasoline in the blood.

    The engines are to regulated to 15k RPM but the reality is that because of the fuel limits engines are shifted at below 12k even in qualification, and never see anything near 15k. In races they are kept even lower than that, like the sound or not, loud or not, its not the sound of mechanics being pushed to the limit.

    Because it isn’t pushed.

    You can do your “strategy is part of racing” and “road relevance” all day long, the bottom line is that F1 aren’t proper racing at present.

    1. You missed the Bahrain and Barcelone GP, didn´t you?

      1. I saw the Bahrain which was an exception, Barcelona was just another eco cruise fest apart from a few laps at then end.

        With all the talk about budget caps, drivers left and right complaining about not being able to race properly but instead having to drive delta’s, the fact that GP2 overlaps F1 track times, and the complains about noise, McLaren of all teams still not having a title sponsor….

        But you think all is fine and dandy?

      2. Note: I did see most of the Barcelona but literally dosed of in the middle part, re-seeing the recording revealed nothing but a few really really quick pit stops.

        Isn’t it really amazing that they can change tires in just 2 seconds… crazy I tell you.

      3. Barcelona was crap. 2 cars battling at the end would be great if it wasn’t such a 2 tier series it is now. rosberg would only have passed with fake racing drs anyway, wow how exciting

    2. Revs does not equal “pushing,” not with turbos. And if there was not a fuel limit, there would be a boost pressure limit (pop-off valves, whatever), because we cannot have 2000bhp F1 cars. We just can’t.

      And what was so cool about the high-revs of the older engine—it was a sign that they lacked torque. They had to be revved to massive speeds to make any power. How can F1 be the pinnacle of racing when the engines have the torque of a non-reflashed VW GTI? Because they are loud?

      There are road cars with 500bph built to run tens of thousands of miles without serious maintenance. That is not a technical challenge to make an engine do 750bph and last only a few hundred miles. F1 is now doing relevant, technically advanced drivetrains, finally. Let’s embrace it.

      1. Had two turbo cars and tweaked them real good including bigger turbos, not much you teach me about it; and pushing to the limit -always- means getting max revs, turbo or not, pushing 2 bars into and engine at 15k vs 10k will give you 50% more air going through it. Then just have a turbo that fits the revs and that will give you both torque and HP. Problem is it would suck too much fuel and the 100L/H kicks in, thats why manufactures kept the revs down.

        If you want road relevance your should wake up and smell the roses, road relevance today means E-Cars, thats where we are going with perhaps a small range extender non drive train connected ICE unit.

        I’m not embracing a racing series that call for short shifting and lift & coast -ever- be it for saving tires or for saving fuel, this is racing not eco-challenge, it can be road relevant all it want, be it a 3 cylinder, 1000ccm range extender ICS but i better well be pushed all the way to the limit or it ain’t racing.

        1. I’m not embracing a racing series that call for short shifting and lift & coast -ever- be it for saving tires or for saving fuel, this is racing not eco-challenge

          F1 has always called for short shifting and lift and coast. Teams never wanted to be carrying more fuel than needed, so would always put in less fuel than needed for flat out racing flag to flag.

          Also, 2 small points. Firstly, even flat out racing does not mean using max revs. It means finding the best performance point for the car and track you are driving. Of the car will rev to 20k but peak power is at 15k, and the fastest way to drive it is to change up at 16k, a reaching driver’s job is tto find that out and do it.

          Also, at a fixed boost (at the manifold), revving at 15k will never give you 50% more air than at 10k. There will always be losses before the air gets into the cylinder. It is unlikely to even be close, even in an F1 engine.

          1. @drmouse

            Your silly, arguing the small details, of course no race of a duration of 1.5 hours are ever going to be flat out 100%, it can get very very close though, with proper tires/fuel allocations.

            You comment on boost does not deserve a comment, you know perfectly well what is meant, if its 48 or 50% is totally meaningless.

            You guys can fool yourself all you want the drivers has spoken against their new driving style of lift and coast and the overwhelming proof of f1 not being proper racing has been served many times by drivers asking for permission over radio to defend/attack on track, not team mates mind you, but outright rivals.
            (Arguing that drivers has always used lift and coast, please address not with me but with the likes of Lewis Hamilton who among others have spoken about adapting to these new conditions)

        2. You comment on boost does not deserve a comment, you know perfectly well what is meant, if its 48 or 50% is totally meaningless.

          It’s likely to be a lot less than that. In most vehicles, the torque has dropped by more than 10% from peak by the red line, often by more than 20%. However, this was a minor side point tacked on to the end.

          You guys can fool yourself all you want the drivers has spoken against their new driving style of lift and coast

          There may be more of it now, but my point was that fuel and tyre conservation has always been an important part of racing. I suspect that the emphasis on it now has more to do with how damn good the cars are now.

          Also, we have seen less conservative driving so far this season than we did last season. Less lift and coast, less tyre conservation, more overtaking and more aggressive driving. So the new regulations and new cars are a step in the right direction, even by your own argument. Granted, last season is hardly a stand out example of F1 at it’s peak, but an improvement is still an improvement.

    3. I totally agree. Sad things happen these days in F1.

  32. It certainly seems as though Mercedes are trying their hardest to appeal to the fans of the sport this season, perhaps to make their domination more palatable to those who aren’t fans of the team. Clearly a solution like this was always going to look ridiculous, but by trying it they appease the section of fans crying out for louder engines, while not alienating those who support the current sound of f1, and it certainly stands out at the moment that they are the only team actively trying to find a solution to the noise issue.
    They also achieve this by allowing their drivers to race (for now), they’re trying to become the ‘good guys’ of f1, and in doing so I guess they’re hoping to prolong the period before the FIA choose to end their domination…

    1. I may be wrong, but in fairness I am not so sure this is a Mercedes initiative. I went back to Keith’s article on May 8th and it doesn’t really say whose idea this was, but it does imply Formula One team(s) are looking into this. ie. ‘Mercedes are testing…’ does not mean Mercedes are trying to appease anyone. I suspect they and other teams have been asked to just look into the issue a bit. Sure maybe F1 is trying to at least appear to appease some naysayers, but I don’t know that it was Merc themselves that went to F1 and said ‘we want to try this.’

      Merc I’m wondering, would likely have needed permission to do this as surely there is no provision for this add-on in the official 2014 regs, so to me it makes more sense if F1 went to teams and said ‘please try some things…show us what you have in mind…we’ll likely ok it for the post-Spain test’. Something in the quotes of NR comes off as light-hearted to me vs. if they were actually trying an official Mercedes upgrade where he wouldn’t just be saying in public ‘oh well, scrap that, we’ll try something different’.

      As to appealing to fans, they are already doing that by showing us racing. They are after all racers. We’ll see if the ‘for now’ comes. But they certainly will have no control over whether or not FIA will end their domination, but I’m sure that will only come if/when their domination hurts the ratings. And I’ll gladly take 4 seasons of Bahrain and Spain-like racing any day.

      1. Yeah so I see now within Keith’s new round-up regarding Vettel’s chassis, a link to verbiage about Renault backing the Strategy Groups’ efforts to solve the noise issue.

  33. It isn’t nice part…

  34. I suspect Merc gave their engineers a design brief to come up with something so ridiculous that any discussion on changing the exhaust be ended very quickly.

    I sense some engineers are getting a bonus this year.

    1. Or possibly a project for the new apprentice to demonstrate his fabrication and welding skills.

  35. As a dinosaur, I am entitled to point out that this is always the way with changes in F1 regulations regarding engine type. Way back at the beginning of the sixties the 1.5 litre formula was rubbished as being too Mickey Mouse to provide excitement. It was ironic, therefore, that it ushered in the golden age of F1 racing and provided some of the most innovative and interesting cars F1 has ever seen. If sound is the problem, I would remind you of the days when everyone swooned at the noise of a Ferrari V12 and the harsh crackle of the BRM H-16 (before it went bang, of course). So we’ve become used to the scream of engines that revved to 20,000 and beyond – what of it? I confess that I loved that sound as much as anyone but we will come to accept the deeper and more muted tones of these little V-6s with their bolt-on contraptions. Just give it time and the memory of the screamers will fade, we’ll be in ecstacy at the sound of a Mercedes turbo sucking in great dollops of air and Ferrari’s wee cut-in-half V-12 will induce rapture in the hearts of the tifosi. It’s a new era and, like all new eras, will take a while to be accepted.

    After all, this is probably the last F1 formula for the internal combustion engine and the future holds only the dreaded electric motor. Make hay while the sun shines is my advice. :)

    1. Nice to get the dinosaur perspective on this one @clive-allen . Pleasure to read and I totally agree, time to make hay indeed.

    2. After all, this is probably the last F1 formula for the internal combustion engine and the future holds only the dreaded electric motor. Make hay while the sun shines is my advice. :)

      This is frightnening. But unfortunately it could be true.

      The real big issue -in my opinion- is the fuel flow limit (100 kg per hour). This leads to engines taking 12,000 rpm instead of the 15,000 they are allowed to reach. So I say: get rid of fuel flow limit in 2015 (but keep the 100kg per race) in order to get the revs up, and we will see an improvement.

      1. Don’t worry. Formula E cars have 180hp and drivers have to switch cars in the race. (LOL.) Battery technology, without a Nobel Prize-worthy advance, is not going to completely evict the ICE from a car requiring serious performance or decent range for a good while.

        1. Unfortunately, the FIA is driven not by practicalities but by political expediencies. And it might appeal to them to “force” the development of battery technology by insisting on an electric formula. Think of Formula E as the thin end of the wedge… :D

          1. It won´t be Formula E, but I am absolutely sure the next formula will be inline 4 or V4-engine with an even more dominant hybrid power unit, like Porsche does it at Le Mans. Btw, would have liked to see I4 against V6 in current formula 1, couldn´t have been interesting.

  36. Good, i’m glad because it looked like something out of Wacky races. I don’t see anything can be done without a complete engine redesign. Face it, this was just an effort to appear to be trying something, the noise we have now, is the noise we’ll have for a good few years to come.

  37. Well, after all, Mercedes does NOT go up to 11, then.

  38. Neil (@neilosjames)
    15th May 2014, 2:27

    It looks like an engineer just spent five minutes cobbling together a cone out of spare bits of metal at the factory and they stuck it on the car to take the P out of people who are complaining about the noise.

  39. I showed that pic to my girlfriend and she died laughing and said: it looks like a clown car!

    1. I’m sorry for your loss.

  40. There should be a new poll taken of people that have actually been at races this year and their opinion on the noise. And off topic, but what the heck is with all the rave reviews of the Spanish GP? The most boring race I have seen in ages, yes, Rosberg began to catch up at the end, but it isn’t like he was able to even make a single move on Ham, he just caught up. In no way resembles Bahrain race and I was sickened to hear Crofty keep lamenting on the fact that “he we are, just like in Bahrain”.

  41. Is Mercedes pulling a fast one? Maybe they are “testing” something for a different reason and the “improved sound effects” story is a smokescreen. Maybe a useful story if other more important parts were being tested?

    Can anyone think of a reason for making the narrow part of the end of the exhaust shorter? Does this give any possible performance gain? Could they be trying to tune the resonant frequency of the tail pipe (as in 2-stroke motorcycle engines)?

    I don’t know – but as many above have said, it seems like a ridiculous waste of resources. F1 teams don’t do that, as a rule.

    The only other idea that seemed reasonable was from @hohum – it could be the work of an apprentice.

    Maybe I’m just paranoid.

    1. Yes you are being paranoid. This is a Strategy Group initiative not a Mercedes one. Renault has said they are on board too in working toward possible solutions to appease those who are bothered by the current sound.

      Also keep in mind it is imho highly unlikely a team could just add such a thing as Merc have without breaking the regs, so I think it likely the teams have been asked to look into this issue and they have the green flag to, I envision quite passively, try a few things just to see.

      1. @robbie Having read a bit more about it, I think you’re right. Shame though.
        What astonishes me is how seriously some people take the sound issue. Having spent quite a bit of time at drag racing, F1 has always sounded tame to me. And these days I only watch on tv, so sound volume is irrelevant. Indeed I haven’t been to a live race since the nineties, don’t miss it. For me, F1 is about skill, intelligence, management, information, design, bravery – not sound.

        1. @tribaltalker I’m with you on the sound too. It hasn’t bothered me in the least and I’ve been a fan since Gilles entry into F1 brought television coverage of F1 to Canada in 78/79.

          I always found too that half the time the director hasn’t coordinated the sound we are hearing with the car that has just come into view on our TVs anyway, so I’m convinced that they could do a lot better at micking the cars’ engine compartments as well as coordinating things in the television trucks.

  42. LOLOL! they can’t be serious. C’mon those who have complained big time like myself have accepted the sound and am looking at racing by now. I think a person by the name of JT just wants to jerk the fans. Maybe getting rid of JT is a much better solution than altering the sound? There are more serious issues to take care of JT! unless fans are turning off their TVs and trackside fans have dropped drastically? Spain seems like full house I thought.

    1. In fairness to JT you will see in Keith’s next round-up that JT opines this issue will go away on it’s own. The initiative to try to change the sound or amplify it is coming from the Strategy Group.

  43. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ynQp7St5Xc
    Listen to this video and this is a shame that Gp2 makes some nice nose while F1 cars sound like crying dogs!!!

    1. Ha, yes! Exactly. How can anyone defend this? Would you rather see a souped up prius race or a aston vantage v12? Yes, the prius is more advanced, yes, the prius is relevant to our modern society. Come on!! I can accept the new sound because I HAVE to, but I am not going to say it is better or any such nonsense or be happy with it. And for the same person who keeps posting about “now I can safely take my young children to F1, but not if they make it loud again”, well boo-hoo, ever heard of ear protectors mate?

      1. Easy. We don’t care about the sound. The racing is what matters.

      2. You should also give ear protectors to kids in the current season or didn´t you attend a live race this year and kepp talking about F1 noise of this years cars like the blind talking of the colour?

  44. This is so wrong about this fuel saving and this low rmp because fuel saving.
    Instead of 100kg fuel per race, teams could use mixer of 100kg normal fuel and for example some alcohols methanol ethalon or gases like proban butane methan. This is ecology not this Lition-ion batteries which maybe are change for every race and go to trash and pollute the environment.
    When methan or ethanol is burned the only trash is CO2 which isnot BED gas because every tree likes it needs it. They (trees and every plant) dont need for live old lition-ion battteries. And alcohol can be obtain from a lot of plants.

    1. Or water-methanol injection which helps to drag out more energy out of the fuel.

  45. Now they have the opportunity to try with a vuvuzela!!!

    1. :D
      Hilarious mate!

  46. I feel fitting a real trumpet, with a computer controlled mechanic hand to play a melody, will do the trick! And every team that fits a trumpet and can play a song, takes part in F1 ESC . Winners will be awarded double points. Every race. F1 economy/hybrid is laughable.

  47. Don’t overeact, save some for the upcoming 4 cylinder GPL with a JBL booster sound box.

  48. Mercedes, for the past 5 years – the slowest at developing their car as the year goes on, same again… cant even develop a better sound! (its a joke)

  49. amplifying the exhaust will only amplify the crap sound coming out of it unfortunantly – it is a step in the right direction making them louder, but the fans want an “f1” sound to the cars, not a v6 Nissan sound.

  50. I still don’t really see the volume as been too big of an issue.

    Yeah the new V6 Turbos are quieter but that hasn’t put me off, I’ve already gotten used to it (And the finger noses) & Im enjoying F1 just as much this year as I have in the past.

    In fact if anything I am enjoying 2014 so far more than I have the past few seasons in part because I love how the new cars are moving around more & how the new power units are adding to that coming off the corners when all the torque kicks in.

    F1 of the past decade may well have been louder but the spectacle of watching the cars was lacking because they had so much grip from the aero & so little torque from the engines that they didn’t move around & often looked like they were on rails.
    This year it may be quieter but its great to see the drivers actually having to drive the cars again, Watching them moving around through the corners & on the exit is a joy to watch & its made the spectacle of watching the cars so much more exciting.

    The racing has been better as well, We had good levels of overtaking at every race as well as some good close, hard fought racing through the field. Bahrain is obviously the standout but there was plenty of good racing & overtaking at the other race.

    Overtaking stats so far:
    Melbourne – 20
    Sepang – 31
    Bahrain – 67
    China – 40
    Spain – 42

    I also like how DRS has been less of an issue as well, I still hate the stupid thing but its not been as big a factor so far this year as it has in the past with regards to providing the easy so called highway passes & the tyres have also been less of a factor when compared to how they were in 2012/2013 at least.

    There is nothing really wrong with F1 2014, There still fast, The racing has been great & the engines while quieter still sound very nice & are still plenty loud enough in my view. Just leave things as they are & lets see how things develop naturally over the next few years. I see no reason to start changing everything after 5 races just because some seem to think sound is the only thing that matters.

    1. I feel the same. So relieved that things have got better in 2014 because at the end of last year I was in despair. I still have to bit my lip when anything DRS related gets mentioned, but the other stuff is starting to make up for it.

  51. Kimoni Nakamoto (@)
    15th May 2014, 20:35

    All this harping on about engine noise serves only to distract attention from the real issue. Unnoticed by many, over the last few years the grid has become more and more filled with cars painted in neutral colours, from the predominantly white of Williams to the silver/grey used by McLaren and Mercedes and the dark grey and black of Sauber and Force India.

    Bright, primary colours are an important part of the spectacle of F1. They make it more visually appealing and are what the fans want, particularly those long-term dedicated and knowledgeable fans under four years old. How can it claim to be the pinnacle of motorsport when WEC and NASCAR have more eye-catching livery? It’s a disgrace, F1 has lost its way.

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