Ecclestone: Pump up the volume, please

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone had much to say as he sampled the sport's controversial new, quiet engines in person yesterday.

Ecclestone, 83, at trackside for free practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix, said the cars sounded better than on TV but still needed a louder roar.

"It's a little better than we thought so if we can just get it up a little bit more than that - I wish I could get it up - then we will be all right," quipped the white-haired billionaire.

"It sounds terrible on TV. The problem isn't that, the problem is for the people who are coming here and the whole atmosphere."

Ecclestone has been one of the leading critics of the new hybrid engines which purr down the track, a vast change from the deafening scream which previously characterised F1. - AFP.