Racing or building a car to a certain formula and a spec series are two very different takes. The formula gets a revision every few years because else it would go too fast. This is an ongoing process since the beginning of the formula. Just imagine what full turbo ground effect cars would have looked like in 2000. They would of ripped your head off. Spec cars are from the same builder, or the same design. The organization is responsible for the car instead of the manufacturer or the team running it. In GT racing its even worse with the balance of performance, which has nothing to do with sport.Edax wrote: ↑17 Mar 2018, 01:18I think it is more a human problem. Car technology has progressed to a point where it reaches the limits of what is possible. Not in terms of technology. It is possible to make cars that go a lot faster, but they would surpass the abilities of that human brain that is controlling it, and which has barely evolved since first going to the track.Jolle wrote: ↑16 Mar 2018, 21:51But like you’ve been able to read from other posters above here, this is only true if F1 doesn’t become a Indy car style spec series. RedBull especially is the odd one out at the moment, not being a car manufacturer from the big teams. They want to go back to a formula that plays in their advantage: more or less standardized engines.Edax wrote: ↑16 Mar 2018, 21:42
I think you hit the nail on the head. The question is not so much what F1 will do without Ferrari, it will run fine. The question is more what Ferrari will do without F1.
Arguably the supercar landscape is much more competitive than it was 20, 30 or 40 years ago. In my youth it was simple you either had a poster of a Countach on the wall or an F40. There were some alternatives like the Vector or the XJ220. But in the pricerange “what I might be able to afford if I eat rice for the rest of my life” there were only a few.
Nowadays there are so many nice offerings in that segment. Lambo, Jaguar, Bugatti, Koeningsegg, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, Mclaren, Bentley, Lotus, Aston Martin.
At the moment Ferrari can lean on their heritage, much of which is due to F1. If your corvette catches fire it is due to shoddy American engineering, if your Ferrari catches fire it is due to Italian passion. A ferrari is worth more than the sum of its components and performance.
I think it is an error to assume that they will maintain that special status amongst car buyers when they would leave F1. When they lose that Ferrari premium, my guess is they will find it much harder to compete.
It’s a complicated political problem
Just imagine. If we would free up all the rules we would end up with 9g monsters. Maybe the best of the drivers could get them around a track in an orderly fasion, but not while competing with other drivers. That is something which every series except roborace has to content with.
But as F1 becomes more restricted and more specified, it still is the fastest of the spec series. There are tons of manufacturers that can make a gt3 or a gt4 series car. There are only few which can compete on F1 level. Even with a fully standardised engine you have to invest a ton of knowledge an get all the details right, to be able to compete.
As long if F1 stays on the top of the pack, and the closest to the limits, it will always have a special appeal and marketing value.
F1 is about building a better car then your rivals. That is or must also be the main focus in its marketing. Else it’s just a badge on a series designed car.
