This year (2010) I attended the Canadian Grand Prix.

This was my second GP (USGP 2007).

I swear, the cars just sounded louder this year than before.

Now I have been to every type of auto race - Le Mans, NASCAR, Indy, Sports Car, Rolex, etc. But there is nothing - and I mean NOTHING - like the sound of an F1 car roaring down the straightaway.

If you get close enough to the action, it is physically unbearable.

The air burns your face, the smell torches your nose, the rumble shakes your bones and the sound enters your eardrums and shatters any prior conception of what "loud" is.

The craziest part is that - even when the cars are a mile past you - they are still loud enough to wake Jox after a visit to the Castro District.

You often hear folks on car websites mention that a certain road-going car sounds "just like an F1 car." Let me help dispel those misconceptions. NOTHING SOUNDS LIKE AN F1 CAR.

Below are a few videos I shot with my Nikon D90 of the 2010 Canadian GP. I hope that they give you some idea of what an F1 race is actually like from an audio perspective.

There is truly nothing like it.

Here is an absolutely crazy video of us at the site closest to the track. The sound is absolutely mind boggling. This video was shot just after turn three going into the back straightaway near Grandstand 11.

YouTube - The Sounds of Formula 1 at The Canadian Grand Prix 2010

Here is a video that I shot from our seats in Grandstand 12. This is the formation lap just before the start of the race.

YouTube - Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix 2010 Formation Lap

And here is the most exciting moment in sports - the start of an F1 race! Here are turns 1, 2 and 3 of the Canadian Grand Prix 2010. Everyone stands, everything gets a bit quiet and in a slight hush, the lights go out . . .

YouTube - Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix 2010 Start

Watching these videos makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck like nothing else.

Man, I love Formula 1 racing.

 

I have woken up after a late Thursday night in Montreal, gone out to the hotel pool (to drink some more of course) and heard the cars running during p1 Friday morning.

 

Awesome. Thanks for posting amigo.

 

Great perspective and vids, I couldn't agree more with you about the excitement of F1...can't wait till it's back in the U.S.

 

Great post bud.

Love the sound, and hope to hear it one day in person.