F1 engineers will work with the sport’s new engine formula for 2013 to create a “sexy” sound.
That is the claim of Fernando Alonso, amid fears F1′s formidable engine note is not reduced to a feeble buzz after the normally-aspirated V8s roar for the last time next year.

Asked about the likely sound of the 4-cylinder turbo engines in 2013, Ferrari driver Alonso said on Thursday: “For the driver, the change will not be a big one.

“From the cockpit, we hear only 5 or 10 per cent of the ambient noise anyway,” the Spaniard said at Ferrari’s media event in the Italian Dolomites.

“For the fans, of course, it is important, but I am sure the engineers will work for example with the exhaust to ensure that the sound is sexy enough,” added Alonso.

F1 cars will feature 1980-style ‘tea tray’ front wings in 2013, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

With KERS and adjustable rear wings to feature on the grid next season, and radical 4-cylinder turbo engines to debut in 2013, the report said the new front wings are the next significant change for formula one in two years.

To replace the big and wide front wings of today, the 2013 cars will reportedly generate the bulk of their downforce underneath the car, with the formula drawn up by veteran engineers Patrick Head and Rory Byrne.

The teams will receive the draft 2013 regulations – which will also see the cars wearing much smaller rear wings – this week before they are discussed in detail by the Technical Working Group in January.

“(In 2013) We are only going to have roughly 65 per cent of the amount of fuel and a (limited) fuel (flow) rate — that was a given,” Head, engineering boss and co-owner at Williams, confirmed.

“We were just told ‘That’s what it will be, you’ve got to come up with a car spec that is not going to be more than five seconds a lap slower than a current F1 car’.

“So some circuit simulation was done by Rory at Ferrari and when we’d come up with some numbers in terms of drag and downforce it was then to try to come up with a geometry of a car that could try to achieve that,” he added.

More details about the shape of radical new regulations for 2013 have continued to emerge.

Earlier, it was reported that most teams have essentially agreed that the field will in future be powered by 1.6 litre, 4 cylinder turbo engines, with the cars featuring 80s-style ‘ground effect’ aerodynamics.

Monday’s reports also said drivers will be limited to using just five of the 650 horse power engines in 2013.

The online magazine GPWeek has now revealed some additional details of the new formula.

The publication said the turbo engines will run at about 10,000rpm, and feature an efficient limit on the fuel flow — culminating in a ‘green’ formula that some insiders believe might entice manufacturers back onto the grid.

KERS will also play an increasing role in F1′s future regulations, with additional heat-recovery technology to likely augment the existing hybrid systems.

Additionally, the cars’ sidepods will be moved forwards to increase driver protection, and the size of the wheel rims is expected to increase in future years.

The basis of the 2013 rules are likely to be outlined in more detail after a forthcoming meeting of the World Motor Sport Council.

The outline of F1′s new technical direction for 2013 and beyond has been essentially decided.

According to Autosprint’s Italian-language auto.it, the sport’s cars of the future will feature so-called ‘ground effect’ aerodynamics and be powered by 1.6 litre, four-cylinder turbocharged engines.

The report said the package has been agreed by the majority of the teams.

A working group, featuring a group of engineers from F1 teams, has been in charge of defining the basic outline of the 2013 regulations, Autosprint said.

The four-cylinder turbo engines will reportedly produce 650 horse power, with drivers to be limited to using just five separate units per season.

Ground-effect aerodynamics, meanwhile, could improve overtaking by having the majority of the downforce generated underneath the car, rather than by the wings and top bodywork which greatly disturb the airflow onto following cars.

The technology was pioneered in F1 in the late 70s, but banned shortly afterwards because while producing immense cornering grip, ground effects made the cars unstable at high speed and relied on ‘sliding skirts’ that often broke.