Formula One pre-season testing - Feb 28 to March 1

So I've been to BIC for a whole day to check out the Testing that took place at the Sakhir track, and i must say, a lot of changes this season.. New FIA rules that sparked a huge argument between the FIA and F1 team officials and drivers. The car sounds different, the design is different in a way that is kind of surprising to me (I'll tell you why later on).


To start off, there's a new engine. By that you might think that it would be a bigger engine and a lot faster... No it isn't. The 2013 2.4 litre V8 engine is going to be replaced by a smaller, more environmental-friendly engine which is the 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 engine. And with that the sound is a bit less noisy. Personally I love the old V8 and even older V10 engine sound. It sounded more futuristic and gave me goosebumps and chills ran up my spine, I loved the sound of it.. you could hear it from miles away and it would still sound that awesome.


Even the drivers are having their say on this:

"It reminds me a bit of when I used to look at the videos from the 80s, the old turbos, and it's that same sound now - deep, with lots of power on the straight," commented Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, son of 1982 champion Keke.   - via TheTweek.co.uk

Nico Hulkenberg of Force India had his say when asked about it:

"A bit disappointing, to be honest." followed by "It's not the same sound as a V8... Let's see, maybe there's more to come...but it's not the old screaming V8 and high rev engine sound."  - via TheTweek.co.uk

Defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel said:

"I would have loved to go the other way, back to V10," - via TheTweek.co.uk

Even the boss himself Bernie Ecclestone said that he wasn't a fan of the new V6 engine, He also said that he likes the cars louder and he believes that the new V6 engine would prove a "turn-off for the spectators"

Now getting to the looks, Let's just say it's not the prettiest of designs comparing to the last 7-8 years. It looks.... ugly. The main reason for the design change is to minimize the chance of the driver getting hurt in a crash. The nose is much much lower this season.. I really don't know how many millimeters off the ground but it's a really tiny gap. In the back of the car, the exhaust is faced upwards so the hot air won't do something, bla bla boring.

“This is gonna be a seriously challenging year for every team. Everything’s different,” -Lewis Hamilton via Sky Sports F1

"Those drooping snouts are a response to the FIA’s new rule that the nose can’t be higher than 185 millimeters. The goal is to minimize the risk to drivers in T-bone collisions. The new reg posed a challenge to F1′s designers and aerodynamicists, who prefer to keep the nose elevated to maximize airflow under the car. Trying to meet these two goals has led to an array of hideous schnoz designs, and Caterham has to be the worst. " - via an article on wired.com

So that 's what i think about the New engine and design of the F1 cars, Moving on to the pictures.. Some great shots I took this past weekend.. here are some.