The Devil's Advocate: The Case For the V6 Hybrid Era #blogpost

26 Apr 2017

Most F1 fans who are old enough to be active on online forums and other places of discussion grew up watching F1 during the V8 era, the V10 era, or even the V12 and the old turbo V6 era. They heard engines that shrieked and cackled across the track and across the world through TV sets. Ask any fan, and they will tell you that what makes Formula 1 the best motorsport of them all were those sounds. Which is probably why there are weepings and gnashing of teeth when the the current V6 hybrid power unit is brought up. Even the new owners of the sport are trying to get rid of it by 2020.

If you are one of these noise purists, braces yourselves for the ultimate blasphemy: the V6 hybrid power unit system is great. You know what? It’s even better than the V10.

Before you start mashing the keyboard with unbridled rage and tears of anguish flowing out of your eyes, allow me to list some reasons why the V6 hybrid is actually quite brilliant.

1. Sound

Sound is probably the biggest reason why a lot of fans have…strong emotions against the V6. But in my opinion, the V6 sounds brilliant.

That’s right, I said it. I like the sound of the V6 hybrid.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore the sounds of old F1 cars. Every time I hear Michael Schmacher’s Ferraris, Fernando Alonso’s Renault, or Kimi Raikkonnen in his McLaren-Mercedes, I can only imagine what a grid full of those V10 screamers must have sounded like.

And they were absolute music to the fans who were privileged enough to watch the races during those glorious eras. Until they got to lap 3.

Not only did the old engines get very irritating to some fans and to the people who lived near the circuits, the incredibly high decibels means that fans on the grandstands couldn’t enjoy it for the whole race since keeping your ears uncovered after lap 3 meant your ears would start bleeding profusely. The current V6 hybrid might not have the sheer volume as the older engines, but my opinion is that they have a very memorable soundtrack.

Someone please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks they sound like spaceships.

2. Technology

The essence of F1 is the complexity and the technology. Some old-timer fans whine and moan about how simple F1 used to be. Not true. Let’s take Niki Lauda’s Ferrari 312 T2 that he drove in the immortal 1976 season.

This car had a flat-12 engine that revved up to north of 12,000 rpm, transversely mounted 5-speed manual gearbox and tires wider than a McDonald’s enthusiast. By 2017 F1 fan’s standards, all this is child’s play. But this car wasn’t built in 2017, it was built in 1976, and back then everything about this car was basically witchcraft. Because of hindsight bias, we think that older F1 cars were simpler and more primitive. But every single F1 chassis that has existed represents the edge of everything that was possible with technology that was available at the time; active suspension, semi-automatic paddle shift gearbox, blown diffuser are just some of the countless innovation Formula 1 has seen over the years. The sames goes for the V6 hybrid. We now live when an F1 engine can race at 220 mph while using the same amount of fuel as a family sedan. Let’s not forget that the engines in the back of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes is much, much more powerful than the V8 that was behind him in the McLaren MP4-23. That is mechanical efficiency at an unprecedented rate, a simply amazing achievement.

Technology has always existed in F1 and defined the sport in all of its existence. If we wanted to watch a simpler single-seater racing series, we would be watching Indy Car. Formula 1 was and will be always about showcasing the wildest interpretation of automotive technology, so it’s about time that bunch of overgrown man-children stop crying foul and dictate the direction of the sport away from the way it was meant to be.

3. Road Relevance

Lot of people complain that the current era of F1 has no “road relevance“. Um…..what?

Formula 1 was never about road relevance. How is a 1.5L turbocharged V6, or a 405 section tire road relevant? Or a 3.0L V10 engine that idles at 4,000 rpm and revs up to 19,000 rpm? This sport was always about the wildest interpretation of speed, the most extreme showcase of automotive technology. The hybrid V6 rightfully follows that philosophy; the hybrid technology with energy recovery is the direction where the automotive industry is heading, and without the incentive of showing off their tech of the future, no manufacturer would’ve been willing to jump into making F1 power units.

I understand that the cost of power unit R&D is putting off many established car makers, and I understand that Liberty Media is looking at changing the engine configuration after 2020 to attract more manufacturers to the sport. I think that’s an excellent move from the new owners of F1, I think it would be better for the sport. But at the same time, I don’t think the V6 hybrid is such an abomination that it needs to be tossed out and forgotten about. If there can be a way to lessen the complexity of the power unit and make it more durable, like decreasing the role of the MGU units or honing down turbo pressure, I think the V6 could be as legendary as Prost/Mansell-era 1.5L turbo V6.

To summarize, I don’t think the V6 turbo-hybrid power unit deserves this much hate. I think this configuration is a unique development of Formula 1 that can be fondly remembered in the future. Sure, it’s not as loud and bombastic as it was ten years ago, but that’s progress for you. With some tweaking in rules and technicalities, I believe the power unit can stay awhile and be loved by the fans.

Do you like the V6 power unit? Or do you still loathe it? Comment below and let’s have some discussion!

Comments

I like your idea, and agree in some places, but the V10 will always hold a place in my heart. One of my first memories is Fernando Alonso flying across the line to win his first world championship. The screaming of a V10, the grumble of a V12 and even the whining white noise of a V8 were incredible. The drivers had to work incredibly hard to wrestle these beasts around tracks (try watching Senna at Suzuka in 93 or Schumacher at Monaco in 2004). Naturally aspirated engines have always been loud, and that’s what F1 has always been. Loud. Until the V6 rocked up. I must say again though that I appreciate your opinion and like the post ;)

The reason why Senna and Schumacher had harder time controlling their cars is not because of the engine. Martin Brundle said that the V6 hybrid was actually harder to balance than Schumacher’s Ferrari. Lack of grip is probably because those cars were WAY less reliant on aero. But I agree, F1 has always been loud and a big part of me wants to see the noise come back to F1. But then again, if the hybrid V6 is what will make the fastest, most advanced cars, I personally can sacrifice indulging my eardrums. Besides, like I pointed out in the post, lot of people thought that the V10 (or even the V8) was a limited indulgence because soon they got TOO loud. If that’s you’re thing though, more power to you :)

I would like to see more variety in terms of engine. Have a rules on the engines performance but allow teams to try what they think is best. If they think a naturally aspirated V8 is best let them use it. So long as it falls with in the set rules. It would add more competition. Turbo vs naturally aspirated. V12 vs V8. It would also help teams that are struggling with the current power unit(cough cough McLaren) and allow them to be more competitive.

That’s what was in place in the beginning of the first turbo era, with McLaren still using the Ford-Cosworth DFV while Renault and Ferrari brought in the 1.5 V6 turbo. Alfa Romeo still made a V12. Eventually, everybody gravitated to the V6 turbo because it was the most competitive option (although the FIA did eventually ban the naturally aspirated engine). Although I don’t disagree with your opinion, the teams will eventually gravitate to what the winner is using, and eventually, everybody will be doing the same thing. I feel like that is going to be another “the richest team wins” debacle.

After 2015 the engines sound ok, it still isn’t beautiful in my opinion, but it has it’s charm. If I’m brutally honest it sounds better then the first generation of turbo cars, but I’m a bit to much of a NA-purist. I think the biggest advantage of the V6-Hybrid is the power they produce, they currently produce around the same level of Horsepower as the last gen-V10, and thanks to the near-instant torque the acceleration seem tremendous. And all that with a relativly low fuel consumption. I even think that the current 110 kg of fuel is abit too mich. But that’s probably just me…

U pretty much summed up why I like the new engines including sound

Ha! I knew I wasn’t alone

I loke the sound too, especially down shifts

and then there’s NASCAR, which has been using relatively low tech high horsepower V8’s for decades.

But NASCAR and F1 are completely different kinds of races

I liked the sound back in 2014 and year after year, it improved to become better. The thing that make me sad is the weight of the cars. Hybrid weight a lot reducing the weight needed to have (between 2014-2016), and it makes the car slower. Some of the records that held the most were thanks to sub 700kg cars and at the time, they didn’t even had slicks ! A cool thing to see would be to let older record holder run during free practices alongside 2017 cars and with 2017 tyres

Agreed. I was disappointed of how this year’s cars failed to break any lap records despite their improvement in pace. Hopefully hybrid technology can become light enough where the hybrid cars become light enough to challenge for lap records, if they decide to stick with it, of course.

I love it.

Thanks a lot for this post. You pretty much said what I ve been tryin to explain for the past 3 years to butthurt f1 fans who can’t get over the change. Technology moves on and hybrid is the way to go. Right now these power units are absolute monsters kicking out 1000 hp with endless torque. And you know what? I really like how they sound. Especially during downshifts.