Almost every year, Formula 1 evolves. The cars tend to get faster, as do the pit crews, making the most of the latest advancements in technology. However, many fans can’t help but yearn for the sights and sounds of yesteryear, especially if they’ve had to good fortune to attend F1 races in person.
As the 2020 F1 season drew to a close with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, there were also a series of practice sessions being held over the weekend. Taking us back in time, Fernando Alonso was reunited with the R25 Renault F1 car that he drove to win the 2005 World Drivers’ Championship, finishing ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher.
When the Renault F1 Team posted a video clip of Alonso tearing around the Abu Dhabi circuit, the first thing thousands of eager fans noticed was the difference in sound. The R25 car made that unmistakable screaming sound, familiar to anyone who has followed F1 racing for the last few decades, which is rarely heard these days.
Indeed, the sound of the R25 car Alonso drove is what generated the most comments, replying to the video post on Twitter. Most suggested it’s the sound of older engines they miss most of all in modern F1, with hybrid engines making a completely different sound and significantly less noise.
Of course, everyone was delighted to see Alonso back at the wheel, particularly the Renault F1 Team, who won their first-ever World Constructors’ Championship with the Spaniard in 2005. During what proved to be an exciting battle, Alonso and Renault faced stiff competition right to the final race, as Raikkonen and Team McLaren Mercedes pushed them all the way.
It remains to be seen if the veteran Spaniard can repeat that success, although betting sites like Space Casino will have motor racing betting odds available throughout the 2021 F1 season, as Alonso seeks to bring all his experience to every race. Now aged 39, Alonso will actually be the oldest of any drivers on the grid, when the Australian Grand Prix opens the 2021 season in March.
Just to put things into perspective, Lewis Hamilton hadn’t even burst onto the F1 scene in 2005, when Alonso won the Drivers’ Championship that year. The Briton was racing in Formula Renault and Formula 3 competitions, before moving on to GP2 in 2006. Coincidentally, he then took F1 by storm during his debut 2007 season, partnering Alonso at McLaren.
Having since gone on to win 7 world championships, no driver can claim to have enjoyed more success in F1, with Hamilton first equalling the six titles won by legendary Michael Schumacher, then surpassing that benchmark by winning the 2020 Drivers Championship. Still, the 35-year-old is clearly as enamoured by the classic F1 car sounds, as we all are.
Despite being in the midst of a TV interview, when Alonso screamed past in that V10 Renault R25, Hamilton was obviously distracted and captured by what he heard. “That sound is just so good,” he said, with joy in his eyes. Full of the kind of emotion only the truest F1 fans can hope to understand, “It’s the greatest sound,” Hamilton concluded.
