Is sound going to kill F1?

[synvex]

I accept there are two basic schools of thought regarding F1, that is the technical side and then there is the spectator side. However much the techies would like to believe that is them who 'make' the sport, it is the spectators that bring in the funds that make it all possible. To disregard the feelings of the spectators, is a very dangerous thing to do in any sport, not specifically F1 only.
What has drawn the spectators to F1 all these years? In one word: Excitement. In the old days of the glorious screaming engines, you could hear that the engine is being used to the limit as well as the ground underneath your feet vibrate to that same tune and if you look around you, you see people walking excitedly closer to the track to see this car that is creating that sound. Many, many people attending a GP leave with one hell of a head-ache, but they wonder how is it possible for a long GP to seem so short. A life-time experience not to forget.
And now, F1 has changed. The cars do not sound even close to any sort of limit. On TV you can barely hear an engine, just the soft brrrrm-brrrm you would expect from a road going car. Most of the excitement is lost and even a very long time fan like me, is sleeping in front of the TV! Asking around, most of my friends say they do not really go to special trouble to watch F1 any more because it is boring.
Need I say more? Has F1 lost the plot? Has it changed from a racing series to a development series? Where are we supposed to go watch racing?

[SGeorge]

F1 is, and always has been, an evolving beast - it is probably one of the best indicators of technology progress within sport. There will always be changes, they will always be met with some resistance, but the sport will continue and people will get used to the noise. I havent heard the new cars in the flesh, but there was a considerable backlash when the V8's replaced those fantastic v10s - we soon adapted as fans, and we accepted it as progress, and in some ways a necessity to ensure the future of the sport.

Do I like the sound? No

Do I accept it was probably necessary to keep the sport "relevant" for manufacturers and therefore have asecure future? yes

[JimClarkFan]

No

(Steady, don't all upvote this post at once)

Edit - what might kill F1 is the need to be the pioneering racing class, to be the technology leader, it leads to an arms race where money is king and those lower down the rich list pecking order are left behind. What gets sacrificed is the racing, it's so competitive off the track and advantages created from technological improvements are so big that there is often little competition on the track.

[synvex]

Is F1 a racing class or an endurance class? It is all and well to argue that F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, but surely that means going as FAST as possible under all circumstances. Le Mans racing-class is the opposite and the proper place for the development for saving of fuel/engines/gearboxes, etc.

[Cam]

The only sound F1 cares about is the 'ching' of cash registers. If that sound changes, F1 changes. Everything else is noise.

[FrukostScones]

another one =D>

[bhall]

I've taken to watching F1 with my television muted so I can listen to Erik Satie instead. It's a bit louder and a lot more melodic.

[beelsebob]

...

[Richard]

We've plenty of other "too quiet" or "F1 is doomed" threads, we don't need another

it is the spectators that bring in the funds that make it all possible.

I think the order goes like this:

• Sovereign funds paying for empty race tracks
• TV rights
• Corporate sponsors & naming rights
• Then somewhere among the loose change are contributions from spectators sitting on seats.

[/i]