Primal SCREAMERS

Paying tribute to the naturally aspirated V10, soundtrack to F1's greatest modern era and one of the finest units the sport has produced

- PAUL FEARNLEY

Formula One's banning from 1989 of forced induction in favour of 3.5-litre naturally aspirated engines was expected to reignite the V8 versus V12 (up to 180°) firefight that had raged long before and for some time after - the turbos whistled in at the end of the 1970s. Honda and Renault, however, chose the relatively unexplored V10 route, seeking a better compromise between fuel economy and revs, punch and packaging. They would sweep the board in qualifying - it helped that Ayrton Senna was on board - and win 12 of that season's 16 Grands Prix.

Others followed: prescient independents Ilmor and John Judd's Engineering Developments were picked up by Mercedes-Benz and Yamaha; Peugeot joined in 1994, having twice won at Le Mans using a V10. The trickle became a flood. Though Honda, after 1992 and two seasons with a V12, and Renault (1997) departed the scene but kept their hands in via offshoots Mugen and Mecachrome - the 1998 F1 grid was chocka with V10 blocks, and the fact was made regulatory from 2000. BMW, in 2001, and Toyota, in 2002, having planned a V12, then mixed in.

Ford and Ferrari had stuck to their V8s and V12s - nomenclatures and noises that had forged their brands - until after the post-Ayrton concept for the new regulations. How best to package car and engine: total chassis stiffness, aerodynamics and agility. Before turbos, teams had mainly been private, without the resources of a major manufacturer, so they used a well developed V8 by Cosworth. They were used to it. But we had more freedoms.

"At the first V10 test at Silverstone, Ayrton was unhappy: 'Acceleration too sharp! Deceleration too sharp!' The difference in engine braking compared with a 1.5-litre turbo was huge: the car pitched in corners, balance changed and the driver was uncomfortable. We tried to make the delivery more progressive.