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I know that circuit talk is a big deal right now in this thread, but I'm wondering about evolutionary changes to the LMP1 cars. One of the big areas where it seems that Audi are a cut above Porsche and Toyota this year is in aero. This is mostly with the front end treatment on the R18 and how on the Silverstone sprint bodywork and the high and low downforce evolutions of their LM package they dealt with the air flow to the front diffuser and especially the front tuning vanes mounted behind the diffuser.
That would mean some pretty significant changes to the front ends of the Porsche and Toyota LMP1s--the TS050 would have to revert to the open nose of the 2012 TS030 and the Porsche would need a pretty major front bodywork redesign, and then there'd have to be changes to the rear to balance out the changes made to the front.
But would those teams make such major aero changes with one more year of these regs existing in their current form? Depending on the resources TMG are allowed, they can pull the trigger, since the TS050 is set to be pretty much a new car, even if the chassis design carries over (unlikely IMO, but stranger things have happened). I don't know if Porsche will, not due to lack of time or resources, but the 919 has always had a pretty low-drag aero philosophy behind it. Even though the Audi LM package can be as described by one driver as "high downforce, low drag", that would mean a pretty significant re-think for the Porsche from a packaging/aero philosophy stand point.
And as we saw last year--and might see this year--Porsche's HD spec car might be just a slightly tweaked LM package aimed at improving downforce marginally while retaining the best of the LM's low drag specs.
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