adminMERCEDES driver Nico Rosberg has defended Formula 1’s new format in the wake of criticisms of the spectacle and the sound of the new engines. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has said the new turbo hybrid engines, governed by a fuel limit, are too quiet. Rosberg, who won the season’s first race, said: “It’s been all good for F1. It’s changed around the pecking order.
“That’s definitely good for everybody because the same guy winning [so much] last year, we needed a change to that.”
But Red Bull’s world champion Sebastian Vettel, who won the last nine races of the 2013 season on the way to his fourth consecutive title, echoed Ecclestone’s criticisms.
The German, who retired in Australia two weeks ago and is close to Ecclestone, used a derogatory swear word in describing the sound produced by the V6 turbo engines, and added: “I was on the pit wall during the race, and it is quieter than in a bar!
“For the fans it is not good. F1 has to be spectacular – and the sound is one of the most important things.
“I remember when, although I don’t remember much because I was six years old, we went to see the cars live in free practice in Germany, and the one thing I remember was the sound.
“I remember how loud the cars were, and feeling the cars through the ground as it was vibrating. It is a shame we don’t have that any more.”
Rosberg’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who was on pole position in Australia before retiring with engine problems, said the extra power and torque of the new power-units made the 2014 cars rewarding to drive.
“It’s OK,” Hamilton said. “It’s not special like it used to be, but it’s a lot of power, so it’s special in other ways.”
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, a two-time world champion, said it was too soon to judge the new rules.
“They still sound like racing cars, despite what Ecclestone says. And instead of the monotone, ear-splitting scream of the old naturally aspirated V8s, the new V6 turbo hybrids have a multi-dimensional tone.
“There is the throaty muscularity of the V6 engine, the whine and whistle of the turbo. The motor-generator units that come as part of the hybrid system are audible” the Spaniard said. — BBC
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