F1 power badly sold to fans - Wolff

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the power delivered from the current F1 power units has been badly sold as a product.

New engine regulations brought in at the start of the 2014 season saw the introduction of 1.6-litre V6 turbo engines in place of the previous naturally aspirated V8s. The switch led to a reduction in noise which has drawn criticism from some quarters, and Wolff believes F1 is failing to explain just how powerful and impressive the current engines are.

"With the exception of the turbo era in the 1980s, where we had a qualifying lap at more than 1000hp, we have the most powerful engines of the modern era," Wolff told Tiroler Tageszeitung. "We achieve the greatest speeds on the straights. In Mexico, we hit 364 km/h. But we simply sell the product badly.

"The reason is that some of our competitors and also Bernie [Ecclestone] - due to self-interest - partly malign this technology. The future is hybrid! This development you cannot escape. A hybrid engine is lighter, faster, more efficient and more powerful than a conventional naturally aspirated engine."

And Wolff says F1 is on track to deliver the fastest lap times ever in a year's time if it improves other aspects of the cars.

"The fastest lap times we had were in 2003/2004. At that time there were two tyre suppliers, the cars were driven by all kinds of blown parts and the aerodynamics were around six to seven seconds faster than today. And yet we go now almost the same lap times.

"We have sold the product poorly, while also not overlooking the fact that we talk about the entire sport so badly. Clearly technology must not take the upper hand, it's still about the driver. However, if we change a few details on the cars in 2017 we will see the fastest cars there has ever been on this planet."

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