Macklaren wrote: ↑13 Mar 2020, 17:53
Ringleheim wrote: ↑13 Mar 2020, 17:35
OK, so you are running the Ferrari F1 team. The F1 season is not officially slated to begin until May, and we all know that it probably won't start in May either. The entire season or a huge chunk of it may simply not exist this year.
In the meantime, you have the 2021 project being worked on.
Considering there is no 2020 F1 for another few months, and there might not be any at all, wouldn't the prudent thing be to kind of gamble a little bit and basically divert all resources, funding, and manpower to next year's car NOW? Especially with budget caps in place next year, every penny you spend this year on next year's car is a bonus.
Seriously, Ferrari. Abandon this year's dog of a car and for God's sake, come up with something clever for next year. Where is the innovation we used to see from you? Come up with the next clever thing that everyone in the paddock must chase after and which gives you a .3 second jump on the field next year.
Divert everything to next year and do it NOW. This year may well not exist, and if it does, it's going to be a partial, Mickey Mouse sort of season anyway.
Yeah, I'm sure every team is thinking of doing this. Logical. Only risk is if the FIA pushes out the new regs by a year to 2022 to give teams more time and financial space to cope. Then you're giving up 1.5 seasons by switching away now.
I don't think there's any chance that "2021" becomes "2022". Too much politics involved and too many resources expended already around that argued over, and agreed upon, introduction date.
If I'm Ferrari, I take an educated guess that the current 2020 season is effectively over already and push everything to next year's car. Of course, that assumes gains are to be made by doing things that way. They obviously have budgets and manpower for both projects. I do assume, however, that benefits would be gained by focusing entirely on next year.
It's also worth remembering that the team that comes out of the box, next year, and gets the formula right, might enjoy an advantage that lasts for 5 years or more, with everyone else trying to play catch up.
So in that sense, 2021 is definitely worth a lot more than 2020.
Get it right this year and you enjoy 1 championship. Get it right next year and you might enjoy 5 or 6 or .....