Mercedes AMG Petronas Reveals The New Sound Of F1 Engines In 2014

By Ganesh

Updated: Wednesday, January 29, 2014, 17:37 [IST]

Next year will mark a dramatic change in the motorsport of Formula 1. That change will be the introduction of a new type of engine. Right now F1 racers are powered by rear mounted, naturally aspirated 2.4 liter V8 engines. From 2014 season onwards this will be replaced by a turbocharged 1.6-liter V6 unit.

The new engines will have a max rev limit of 15,000 rpm and 125,000 rpm for the turbocharger. They will also be more economical and any development there will be relevant to road car engines, one of the main reason behind the introduction of the new rule.

Herein comes the worrying part. Add a turbocharger and reduce the number of cylinders, the engine starts to sound very different. How different? The teams and the management, including Bernie Ecclestone knew it was not going to be good. Ecclestone, at one point, even proposed adding artificial sound. While we the fans feared for the worst we did not know what exactly to expect, until now.

Mercedes AMG Petronas has released the first audio clip of the V6 engine the Merc-Williams team will be running in 2014 season. The audio recording was done at Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) in Brixworth, UK. The simulated lap shown in the video is that of the Monza circuit, with the audio having been perfectly synced with the virtual lap using the Driver-in-the-Loop simulator at its headquarters.

Here is my personal comment about the sound of the new engine. I hate it. To my ears it sounds like a bumblebee on steroids buzzing near my ear. But nevermind what I think. Go ahead and listen to the engine yourself and let us know your reaction.