2017 F1 dubbed with old-school engines is amazing

When you watch the video above, it's hard not to feel pangs of sadness at what's been lost.

Someone out there in internet-land has cleverly dubbed old audio clips of V8, V10 and V12-powered F1 cars over footage of the latest machinery in action in Barcelona last week. It's been synced extremely well and offers an insight into the spectacle we'd have had the new-generation hybrid power units not been adopted.

While the hybrid power units are incredibly impressive pieces of engineering, with 50 per cent thermal efficiency (previous V8s were around 30 per cent) and up to 745kW from just 1.6 litres, they don't provide the same physical assault as the engines of old.

Anyone lucky enough to have experienced the old V10 engines at 19,000rpm will vividly remember the way the sound seemed to rattle your internal organs.

Unlike many, here at MOTOR we don't think the new engines sound bad, for they sound quite interesting in a futuristic kind of way, and it's nice not to go home from the F1 with a headache, but there's no doubt that the aural assault was a big part of why so many fell in love with F1.

There is hope on the horizon, however. The current engine regulations are around until 2020, however beyond that it's a clean sheet of paper once again, and F1's new sporting boss Ross Brawn has already begun discussions regarding what the next engine should be.

While it's unlikely 20,000rpm screamers will ever return, Brawn is well aware that sound is a huge part of the appeal of motor racing so hopefully the next generation of F1 cars will have punters reaching for the ear plugs once more.