And that was I believe a neutered V10, 2004 was the highest power year. But these were revving to nearly 19.5k rpm. CRAZY!!
That all said I hate the sound of the new engines. They sound great and very interesting as race cars, however they are simply not what F1 should sound like. If these were LeMans racers then I'd be all over the sound, again its just not F1.
The racing I feel is quite amazing though. I love seeing the drivers making a difference. If you saw when Alonso and a few others got close to eachother and battled you saw the cars twitching and showing how antsy they are. You never saw this in the V8 era. I think it will get better, I dont mind the new tech, it will definitely drive some phenomenal street car developments in the coming years. I still say however that F1 should be a firebreathing engine screaming to 20k+ rpm. And if you are a real fan, you didnt need earplugs for the V10s or the V8's....but maybe Im crazy. I loved hearing and feeling them.