There are a couple of things that I have recently learned. The first is that there is a Deaf Auto Racing league, which I think is awesome. The other is that this year’s Formula One cars don’t sound like last year’s Formula One cars.  

In case you haven’t heard – see what I did there? – the rules changes for 2014 have resulted in what can best be described as a far more muted form of motorsport in F1 this year. You can see, er, hear the difference here. Now, one of my greatest memories from my youth was being in the pits at the start of a VARA race at Willow Springs while the big guns were firing up preparatory to the rolling start. It was an Aston Martin DB 5 that I remember most clearly, each blip on the throttle of the over-carb’d 4-litre sent shock waves through my body and the noise it made was visceral, almost an entity in itself. 

That memory is why I find the latest iteration of F1 car to be kind of anticlimactic. I think that when it comes to spectating, racing should be experienced with every sense equally and I don’t think the aural offering of this year’s generation of F1 cars is up to snuff. What do you think, is this brave new era of stealthy racers a step forward, or is it just plain boring? 

Image source: America Deaf Racing