The new Indycars run a V6 Twin-Turbo and sound much better than F1 has sounded for years. They are not loud but they sound good, at least on TV. I can't wait to hear them in person.
Plus they went with LOWER down force instead of higher like F1. The racing should be very exciting. The cars are lighter and shorter too. Definitely going in a much better direction.
I know I will be going to go to an Indycar race this year and then hopefully more but definitely will not be going to any F1 races.
As for how long the current F1 cars are, about the longest race car ever on a track I can think of are the 1970&1971 Porsche 917LH, with their massive overhang. I've searched to find out how long they are but couldn't find a figure for the length of those cars.
However....
This morning I wondered about another race car used on track that I felt to be a contender if it comes to be among the longest track racing cars ever.
Also from that same era BTW.
The Dodge Charger Daytona and the Plymouth Superbird... (The winged wonders of NASCAR)
Length for the Daytona: 575.3 cm, though with a wheelbase of `only` 297 cm. (i.e. length/wheelbase ratio: 1.94 !)
Current F1's are about as long but with much longer wheelbases, (up to 3.75 meter, longer than a number of small hatchbacks)....
Just an approval as of how awfully `off scale` the shape and dimensions of F1 cars have gone because of Rule makers refusing to re-introduce some kind of ground effects while still wanting to satisfy the need for speed expressed by so many F1 fans......