'Significant' louder F1 sound for 2016 - Lowe

F1 appears to have succeeded in turning up the volume for 2016. With many fans, race promoters and other stakeholders disappointed with the milder tones of the new 'power unit' era, the regulations have been tweaked for the new season.

"The wastegate was causing a sort of silencing of the main exhaust pipe," explained technical chief Paddy Lowe in a Mercedes video. Now, the wastegate will have its own exhaust pipe in order to create more noise and, according to Lowe, "It will work".

His counterpart at Williams, Pat Symonds, agrees, saying recently that the volume could be 25 per cent louder in 2016. "We will see how much louder they will be," said Lowe, "but some measurements have been made in the labs and we have seen a significant increase." (GMM)