Adam Cooper F1

The sound of the 2014 F1 power units has been a subject of discussion since the Australian GP, and a negative reaction from many fans has hardly comes as a surprise.

The sound does not come across well on TV, or to those watching the cars blast down a straight. However it is much better appreciated live by those spectating in corners, and hearing the drivers go down and up the gears.

The always controversial Melbourne F1 boss Ron Walker was quick to join the debate, complaining that he didn’t get the show that he’d signed up for.

Intriguingly seven years ago the FIA was made aware that engine noise could be an issue once the sport switched to turbo power.

In June 2007 the FIA produced a document called “Formula One 2011: Power-Train Regulation Framework,” subtitled “A Briefing Note for the Formula One Manufacturers’ Advisory Committee Meeting, June 2007.”

Commissioned by Max Mosley and prepared by FIA advisors Tony Purnell and Peter Wright, it provided the guidelines that ultimately led to the new regulations, albeit three years later than was originally anticipated.

Although there would be many other documents, much (but not all) of the above report eventually translated into the 2014 rules pushed through by Mosley’s successor Jean Todt.

Purnell and Wright were well aware that the fans had to be taken into account, writing: “The main constraint will be to avoid damage to the emotional attraction of Formula One for its fan base. In particular the technical awe of Formula One and its sheer speed must be retained.”

Regarding the sound made by what was then intended a 2.2-litre V6, they wrote: “The noise of high rpm is to be replaced, by what we don’t know, but it will be quieter. The view is that the risk of this new noise being unappealing is a risk worth taking. Quieter cars are 100% in line with environment demands. The unique and sophisticated power-trains are certain to make a dramatic, if very different noise of their own.”

It will be fascinating to see if the FIA formally investigates the possibility of ramping up the sound for 2015, possibly by mandating a new exhaust design.

As expected Red Bull’s appeal against the exclusion of Daniel Ricciardo from the results of the Australian GP will be heard between the Bahrain and Chinese events.

The FIA confirmed today that the International Court of Appeal hearing will take place at 0930 in Paris on Monday April 14. Given the usual time constraints it was never going to happen any earlier than the gap between the two races.

A short statement said: “On 16 March 2014 the panel of the stewards decided to exclude car No. 3 (driver Daniel Ricciardo) from the results of the race as it was found being out of compliance with the Technical Regulations (the Technical Delegate reported to the Stewards that car No. 3 exceeded the required fuel mass flow of 100kg/h).

“On 20 March 2014, the Österreichischer Automobil-Motorrad und Touring Club – Oberste Nationale Sportkommission für den Motorsport (ÖAMTC-OSK) on behalf of its licence-holder, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, decided to appeal this decision before the International Court of Appeal.”

Stefano Domencali says that Ferrari has a lot of work to do before the next race in Malaysia – and is adamant that there won’t be any allocation of blame between the engine and chassis departments for the team’s form in Australia.

“We have a lot of things to do,” he said. “And what we need to do is to go home and make sure that the things that have to be are solved in the group are clear, with a clear responsibility. And then full stop, and no other discussion.

“We had some issue which was related to the fact that we couldn’t really use full power every lap, so it was connected to some bigger issue that we have to manage. I really hope that we will ready to be at a certain level, or at least to solve the issue that we had, already at the next race in Malaysia.

Regarding fuel consumption he said: “For sure that area is an area where we know we need to improve. You know it seems not logical, but the more power that you have, the less you stay on full throttle. We have also benefit on the fuel consumption side. So it’s like the cat has to bite the tail. For sure that’s an area where we have to improve a lot, but I don’t want to focus only on that, because also the car has to be improved.

“It’s a matter of everyone doing his job, and making sure they are focussed on what they have to do at home, without trying to say this is your fault, my fault. As a team we need to react together, and that’s what I’ve asked to all my engineers and all my people.”

Domenicali says the team will also focus on helping Kimi Raikkonen, who has had more problems with the F14 T than his team mate.

“I think we need to help Kimi in trying to find the right balance with the car, helping him because he deserves that. I think there was an improvement during the days. We are still not where we want, because this is something that as a team we want to make sure that everything will be done in order to help his driving style. I’m also sure that for Malaysia will be much better.”

Kimi Raikkonen left Australia with seventh place to his name after Daniel Ricciardo’s exclusion gifted him a place, but it certainly wasn’t an easy weekend for the Finn on his comeback to Ferrari.

A crash in qualifying was just one of his problems as he struggled to come to terms with the F14 T, and he was seen locking up in the race.

“The brakes are fine, always we had a little issue with it at the beginning of the race,” he said. “But then we grained the front tyre, and obviously when you do that you don’t have the grip on the front, then you lock very easily, and it understeers, that’s the main issue. It’s not the brakes, it’s a combination of things. Sometimes it gets a bit tricky.

“Unfortunately right now it’s not the easiest thing, but I’m sure we will find a solution for it at some point. It’s not the first time I’ve been in a situation that’s not easy, and we’ll work until we fix the things. If it takes a week, a month, I don’t care. It’s not the first time, that’s how it goes some times.”

Asked about the prospects for improving the situation he added: “We know more or less what we want to do. Obviously it’s not happening overnight, it takes time to produce certain parts or a certain way putting the things. We cannot promise that we’re going to fix the issue once we get something that we want.

“We can hope that it will work, but like I said I’ve been in situations before, and sometimes it takes a while. Unfortunately not the most easy position right now, but looking how difficult everything was, we still got something out. Obviously not what we want to achieve, but it could have been even worse. I’m sure we can only get better from here.

“I think if we can run the weekend without any issues, and the race without problems, I’m sure we can be much stronger. This is how it was here, and hopefully we can sort out most of the things for the next race.

“It wasn’t a very enjoyable race and not as strong we wanted, but the weekend overall I think we learned a lot, and hopefully we can cut down the problems and mistakes and get better.”