Quote:
Originally Posted by chillibowl
but surely, had the designers opted for a design path different to the over development of aero, they then would have picked a different focal point, invested considerably into it, and over the decades would have developed another area to the Nth degree quite possibly leading us down another (or the same even) pathway of over complexity/over specialization which likely would have resulted in the same outcome...a large number of long time fans saying 'this is not racing anymore' no?
time, as it is with most things, is the real enemy.
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There is probably a lot of truth to that argument.
It is a function of money and investment over time, leading to ever decreasing technical advantages at an ever increasing cost.
Fifty years ago, in 1973, you could find seconds a lap with just an efficient repackage of the balance within a layout. The McLaren M23 was basically a redefinition of the Lotus 72 concept. The 73 Ferrari 312 didn't work but by refining the package Lauda won the title in 1975.
Now hours of time and millions of dollars are spent in pursuit of 1/100ths of seconds.
My earlier point of blaming the regulators wasn't blaming any particular group per se but simply noting that the regulations are what determines the design parameters.
The issues do lie in the regulations, even though as Richard pointed out, there are a lot of vested interests in pitching their arguments for various rules about what they deem as sacrosanct or otherwise.