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ricciardo wants louder engines in formula one and considers starting time

Ricciardo demands major change to F1: 'Then it was intimidating'

17 May at 10:15
Last update 17 May at 10:35
  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

For F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, the introduction of louder engines is something he desires. It will be music to many F1 fans' ears, as many miss the sound the V8 created before 2014. However, it is not just the fans, certainly the drivers too would love it if Formula 1 cars sounded like true racing monsters again.

Daniel Ricciardo is one of these drivers. The Visa Cash App RB (VCARB) driver couldn't wait to answer the question of louder engines on Thursday: "I can answer that!" He shouted enthusiastically through the press room in Imola. "Give me that one!"

He then went on to mention the importance of more sound: "When I first joined F1, the other engines were certainly much louder. When you get it fired up from the back, you're waiting for it, it cranks, and then when it starts, you feel like that kind of tingle in your spine, and maybe it's just because I was younger and inexperienced and still quite intimidated probably by the sport, but when the engine would fire up, it was like, yes, intimidating, it was more scary."

Ricciardo can remember the roar

Ricciardo does not know if he would get a similar feeling as a rookie in the current era. "I do feel an element of it was the sound, and it did sound like kind of an animal ready to be unleashed, so I remember that feeling vividly, and that was a scary one. Then once you get on track, you're in your happy place and you get comfortable. But in the garage when you're waiting and it starts, and you're like, all right, it's going to get serious pretty soon, that was a cool, scary feeling." Ricciardo said.