thomin wrote:It has been my theory for a while that all the cost cutting measures are effectively hurting the chances of the small teams. The thing is, that the big teams will always have a big budget and they will spend it, no matter what. By clamping down on development like the engine freeze or spec parts, what happens is that small things become more important, particularly aero. And here, brute force trumps it all. A big team can test hundreds of aero configurations, changing the shape of one winglet in conjunction with a slightly different curvature on the bodywork, etc. The result could be seen in the past couple of years where the regulations were both tight and stable. While the overall difference in lap time between the front runners and the back markers was small by historic standards, the small teams were further than ever away from making an impact.
On the other hand, once you open up the rules, ingenuity becomes more important than brute force. A small team with smart people can outperform a big team again. This year is a good example for this. With the new engine formula, the teams did moan about the costs, but at the same time, the had to rethink many aspects of building a car, and low and behold, a small team like Force India is sticking it to the big guys, outperforming Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren. Sure, it won't last and with the regulations being as tight as they are and with ever more spec parts, they will fall back again sooner rather than later. Once everybody has settled into the new formula, brute force will once again triumph.
Therefore, I'm of the opinion that the best thing would be to completely open up the regulations once again. Throw out engine freezes, throw out spec parts or close to spec parts. Yes, that can make things expensive, but only for those who can't prioritize. A smart idea costs you nothing, but with the rules as they are, there's no room for smart ideas, everything is regulated.
At the end of the day, the costs are not determined by the rules, but only by the budget of the teams. Whatever they can gather, they will spend. The more we open up the regulations, the more things there are to spend that money on, the more room there is for failure as well as success. That would ultimately particularly benefit the smaller teams.
a romantic view, but utterly illogical.
Finishing races is important, but racing is more important.
