F-1 Clienti

Ferrari’s F1 Clienti program is similar to the FXX deal, except that the cars are retired Formula One machines. Apparently these are the actual cars driven by Michael Schumacher, Gerhard Berger, and Niki Lauda. There may be more, but these were the three F1 names respresented at Sears Point. According to a couple of articles I found, #1, #2, it’s a bit cheaper to buy access to a Formula One Ferrari than to the FXX.

I was nearly as eager to see and hear the F1 cars on track as I was the FXXs. I am fortunate to have been to three F1 events in my life, Long Beach in 1983, Silverstone in 1990, and Monaco in 2000, when we sat in a grandstand at the right turn after Loews, the sounds echoing against the surrounding buildings.

Last post I went on at some length about the sound of the FXXs, but when the F1 cars started their slow climb up to Turn 2 I got chills. It’s been years since I saw Champ cars at Laguna Seca, and I suspect that they must’ve sounded similar. But F1 cars roar to life with otherworldly fury, and to me made the FXXs sound like annoying, petulant little brothers.

Everything about the F1 engines declares their place at the top of motor sport technology. The rate at which the revs climb, the pitch as the tachometer needle races toward 18 or 19 thousand RPM, and most striking to me, that incredible cracking sound when the throttle is lifted suddenly. I don’t mean ‘cracking’ as in ‘cracking toast there, dear,’ but as in shattering and breaking, which is what comes to mind when I hear that unique sound. It’s like a strange kind of gunfire out of some horrific weapon from Hell. I think most race engines make a sound approaching this due to the overlap on the cam timing, but the F1 engine’s cracking sound is simply amazing.

The F1 Clienti were a younger, more aggressive group as far as I could tell, and one of them actually spun out at the end of the first half hour session, something none of the FXX grandpas seemed willing to risk. Nice!

Being there for even half an hour of the F1 cars on rack was great. F1 has become such a yawn fest these days that the technology far surpasses any available suspense related to actual racing, so getting to see recent cars in an atmosphere free of crowds was very cool. I’d never be able to get close enough to touch the cars at an F1 race, after all. I will get more pics of these cars on Flickr asap.

By the way, if you’re going to be in the UK in June, you might want to check out Ferrari Racing Days at Silverstone, which will offer an experience similar to mine this past weekend, but on an even larger scale, including a promised 40 examples of the legendary F40. There was only one F40 at Sears Point, but even one makes quite an impression.