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It was always better back in the day, wasn't it? Over the years I've collected all sorts of F1 paraphernalia - pocketfuls of discarded rubber picked up from just off the racing line of Eau Rouge during a post-race track invasion, photos of drivers awkwardly coerced into standing next to me and even a set of Johnny Herbert's Goodyear Eagles from a Monza test session that the cats now like to nestle in at the foot of my dad's garden - but an enduring favourite is a compact disc, an unofficial piece of memorabilia from the 1995 season. It is, quite simply, a compilation of sounds from that year's Belgian Grand Prix, and it's electric.It's the variety that delights; a multi-layered chorus of thundering cylinders and ear-piercing pistons. There's the tech and groan of a Renault V10, the sonorous roar of a Hart V8 and - of course - the urgent scream of the Scuderia's V12. Say what you like about the current state of F1, but I can't imagine any 12-year-old fan of the sport as it is today coveting a recording of the thin whistle of the modern V6 hybrid. Stand trackside at a modern Grand Prix circuit and you're more likely to make out the sound of Hamilton and Vettel whining than the whispered drone of their power units.
What a treat, then, to be reminded of the din and drama of a different age in F1 2017, the latest in Codemasters' official series that reintroduces the classic cars last seen in 2013's entry. They're a diverse, expertly picked bunch, hero cars from the last 30 years of Formula 1 and each one with a legend of its own. There are the cars that dominated entire seasons - McLaren's MP4/4, Williams' FW14B and Ferrari's F2002 and F2004 - and others that took centre stage in memorable campaigns. The MP4/6 that gave Senna the last of his F1 crowns in 1991, or the R26 that gave Alonso the last of his eleven years ago - or how about the MP4-23 that took Hamilton to the title on the last corner of the last race in 2008.
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