Fernando Alonso V10 blast shows F1 still missing "wow" and "fear" factor - Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo

Alonso V10 blast shows F1 still missing "wow" and "fear" factor - Ricciardo

Spaniard brought the roaring sound of a V10 to Yas Marina in Renault R25 run

Ian Parkes & Will Gray

Sunday 13 December 2020 12:49

Daniel Ricciardo believes Formula 1 is still missing the “wow" and "fear" factor of old after hearing Fernando Alonso blast around Yas Marina circuit in his Renault R25 V10.

Alonso, who will return to F1 after two years away next year, is taking every chance he can to get run on track before next season, with his latest outing in Abu Dhabi in the 2005 Renault in which he won his first world title.

The sound of the rasping engine reverberating around the track has brought back memories for many, including current Renault driver Ricciardo who conceded that is has made him realise F1 is missing something.

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“It sounds sweet,” he said. “It sounded more impressive [than the current cars] and that’s the V10, isn’t it, that year’s V10. It screams. So, it’s got the wow factor and it’s got the fear factor as well.

“I still have a photographic memory of me arriving in Melbourne, at Albert Park, as a kid. I remember we [he was with his dad] got out of the taxi to get our suitcase. We arrived at the hotel, and I could hear Formula One cars from the track.

“You could hear them, the echo came into the city, and I remember I looked at dad, we looked at each other, and we had goosebumps. It was like ‘Woah! We’re here, you can hear them, we’re close’. There was that wow factor.

“Don’t get me wrong, visually the cars now have a bigger wow factor than ever because they’re so fast, but they don’t have that intimidation behind the sound and that roar and that scream.

“It’s like a fighter plane, an F-18, if they were electric, it wouldn’t look that cool, would it? It’s the sound as well, it’s all of it. The sound creates atmosphere. People pay for that, they get excited for that.

“Speaking first hand it was only a V8 but my first time in an F1 car when the mechanic starts it up at the back and you hear this roar it’s scary. I think for the young kids coming in, junior drivers, it lacks that ‘wow’, that scare initially.”

Alonso will join the Alpine F1 team next year, a re-naming of the current Renault outfit to another of the company’s brands, with the Spaniard’s outing part of a goodbye celebration for the outgoing constructor.

The perfect onboard doesn't exi... Oh wow. #RSspirit #AbuDhabiGP @alo_oficial @f1 pic.twitter.com/i6L2eVA9yg
— Renault F1 Team (@RenaultF1Team) December 11, 2020

Ricciardo watched the onboard footage of Alonso, who will be his replacement at the team next season, and was immediately impressed by the former two-time world champion’s pace.

But he was flabbergasted when he found out his lap time was a one minute and 39 seconds lap, just four seconds slower than the pole time set in modern machinery a few hours earlier.

“Really? Wait. 1:39? Whoa! He’s moving," said a shocked Ricciardo. "Alright, so he’s not that slow. I watched the onboard. It was pretty cool. I guess anyone thinking Fernando’s too old, it isn’t the case, that’s for sure.

“I think he only knows one speed that guy and it’s fast and even kerbs and that, he wasn’t shy to hustle the equipment.”