Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes Formula 1 must look into why Fernando Alonso’s demonstrations in the “spectacular” Renault R25 created a much greater buzz than today’s cars.
Commemorating the last race before the team is rebranded as Alpine for 2021, the two-time world champion took his first title-winning car for a spin both on all three days, capturing the attention of everyone in the paddock at Yas Marina.
Of course, the easy reason why was the nostalgic scream of a V10 engine reverberating off the building and empty grandstands in Abu Dhabi, but Wolff thinks the appeal went beyond that.
“I think, first of all, the car, on one side, is a relic of the past when reducing CO2 emissions wasn’t on the cards and electric mobility didn’t exist,” commented the Austrian.
“I think we just moved into a new era and that also means making compromises, but I agree that the car looked spectacular.
“It was very agile, very small, 150 kilograms lighter, a screaming engine and we can see that although the car was going four, five seconds slower than us [current cars], when you look at the TV pictures it seemed like it was going much faster.
“So there is something to learn. I believe that there is always something to learn.”
Also notable was how the Alonso laps were arguably the most exciting part of the entire weekend.
“The number of messages I got during the race with the sleeping emoji was the most ever,” Wolff revealed.
“I am sure that races here can be very exciting if we choose the right track layout and I wouldn’t want to miss Abu Dhabi from the calendar.
“It’s just a fantastic place and one of the best attractions for guests when we have hospitality here, and it’s adding to the calendar, it’s glamorous. We just need to give it more spectacular racing.”
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Switching back to the Renault, however, Esteban Ocon does believe the nostalgic noise shouldn’t detract from the current generation of cars and technology.
“It’s true that we are missing that sound clearly,” he said.
“I think if people think about Formula 1, that’s what they think about. The cars that we have nowadays are better to drive, are quicker to drive, have more power, have more torque.
“They are just the best cars and the quickest of all time but if they were sounding like this, it would probably be better.
“But we need to live with our time and that’s how it is. The world is moving, and I think it’s the same in the car industry. The cars are sounding less and less, so you lose a bit of the emotion there.
“But they are fast and they are more efficient and they are more reliable, as simple as that.”