It’s something that Formula 1 fans have been missing since 2014 at the latest, but some even since 2006: a huge, even threatening, soundscape. This was once ensured by V10 naturally aspirated engines and later – albeit with a little less oomph – by the V8 variant. This was over with the turbo hybrid engines. Before Imola, F1 boss Stefano Domenicali suggested that this should change again. The Italian is targeting 2030 for the noise offensive. The drivers are enthusiastic, but it’s not fast enough for them.
Daniel Riccardo remembers the V8 engine: like a wild animal!
“When I got into Formula 1, the engines were much louder. When it started, you waited for it: there was a crash and you felt this tingling sensation in your spine,” remembers Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian began his career in 2011 in the V8 era and, alongside Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hülkenberg, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, is one of only six drivers in the current field who have even driven naturally aspirated engines in Formula 1.
“Maybe I was younger, more inexperienced and a little impressed by the sport back then, but when they started the engine it was intimidating and scary,” reports the Racing Bulls driver. A feeling that he denies today’s units: “I don’t know if I would still feel the same today if I joined them now. I think the sound played a role. It sounded like a wild animal being let loose . I remember it well.” He would unsurprisingly be thrilled by a return to more noise: “When you sit in the garage and wait and then it starts. That was a cool and scary feeling.”
The engine sound can’t come fast enough for Carlos Sainz
One person who was not allowed to have this experience is Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. The sound of the V10 engines still played an important role in his career: “I remember my first Formula 1 race. That was in 2005 and I was 10 years old. The first time I drove a Formula 1 engine I was afraid. You were intimidated by that sound. I thought to myself: Who’s going to get in there and give it their all? That’s how I became a fan of the sport [Alonso] and Michael [Schumacher] became my idols. Since then I wanted to be a Formula 1 driver.”
And that wasn’t the only thing that happened to him in the past. Many fans have been mourning the roar of the former speed monsters for years. Sainz also criticizes the lack of this appeal in the current premier class: “This element definitely no longer exists, even if you still can’t have a conversation with the engine running today. It’s not the same.”
The Spaniard also supports Domenicali’s efforts. But for him it all comes too late: “2026 would have been a good chance to get back to that a bit. I don’t know how far that can be achieved. Now they’re already talking about 2030. I wish that could come sooner. With them “With advances in synthetic fuel, there are certainly good ways to get this noise back quickly. I would like this kind of Formula 1 back, I would really support that and it would make me very happy.”
What do you all mean? Do you miss the old noise and do you think that Formula 1 can actually get louder again? Tell us in the comments!
Mandalyn Eviner