Its Evolution Baby!

I was watching a local F1 magazine programme on TV last night. For some odd reason, they saw it fit to show highlights of the 1997 French GP. Watching that footage was rather interesting. I remember that when I saw these cars back then, I used to think that they were great. They looked very much like the pinnacle of race cars that you expected them to be. Sure it took a bit to get used to the raised noses (I can't recall exactly which year they started doing this but it was around this time) but they still looked beautiful to me back then. However, seeing them now, in comparison to the F1 cars we have today, the 1997 cars were absolutely dog ugly!

Its amazing when you think about it. The shape and dimensions of the cars (including things like wheels and tires) are dictated these days not only by designers trying to make the most efficient cars they can but also by rules that attempt to reduce speeds, increase safety and make cars in the field more evenly matched (they've failed in everything except safety so far). These cars are made to be highly functional. They were never intended to be appealing to the eye. They look nothing like conventional road cars (which can afford to be sculpted to look good rather then be highly functional). Why then do F1 cars look so damn stunning to me? What is it about these cars (that have just one seat and look nothing like anything I'll ever be able to drive) that is so appealing? I honestly don't know.

It gets even worse when you see them in the flesh (or the metal as it would seem). You see so much more detail than you do in pictures or on TV. I had the fortune of attending the Monaco GP this year. Even though I wasn't right up against the track, I had a great view and could really see the cars well. The current Ferrari truly is remarkable. Its eye-wateringly beautiful. Its lines are superb and almost even delicate in places. I was blown away by how different and inspired all the cars in the field look when you see them for real.

The sound of the cars is another thing worth mentioning. In fact the sound alone needs an essay written about it (I'll spare you that in this post though!). Unlike on TV, in reality, each and every team's cars sound different. They all have their own character and they all sound glorious to my ears (yes, even Minardi have cool sounding engines and exhausts!). I love it. We were given ear plugs with our tickets (I believe you'd get them at any GP you attend). The sound can be especially harsh at Monaco due to the track being quite closed-in by the city (town actually) it runs through. I didn't bother with my plugs though. I could feel my ears on the point of bleeding but I still had a silly grin firmly planted on my face every time a car went by. I had goose-bumps the entire time as well.

Again, the sound of the engines and exhausts are not purposely made that way by the engineers for anyone's listening pleasure. Its all about making the most amount of (reliable) power possible. Why then does the harsh mechanical sound of these cars sound like music to my ears? A beautiful and majestic symphony only occasionally interrupted by the traction control systems throttling the engine when drivers flatten their accelerators coming out of corners. You can actually tell the great drivers apart from the PS2 generation drivers by that sound alone as the more accomplished drivers control the throttle more themselves and therefore ask less of the traction control systems. To my surprise, I found that the car that sounded the best to me was the BAR Honda (I honestly expected it to be the Ferrari). It was almost a smooth sound. I guess you'd only call that harsh shrill noise that I love so much smooth when you compare it to the other F1 cars in the field! I'd place the Jordan in second place for sound. Its just so aggresive! Ferrari is in third place on my list. It was somewhere in between smooth and aggressive.

I started this post wanting to talk about the evolution of the F1 car (which I did to a small degree) and ended up using it as a way to write a bit about my experience of being at the Monte Carlo GP (which I needed to do). I highly recommend going to a Grand Prix if its within your means (if you plan well, its no where near as expensive as you imagine, even if you live in South Africa like me!). Personally, I'd love to follow the circus all over the world and attend every single race in a year. Hopefully I'll be able to do just that some time soon.