I hope F1 never gets close to being a spec series (there are tight regulations obviously, but not many parts are spec. A big part of F1, for me at least, is car development.
I agree, but in general it’s very hard to achieve close racing while also allowing broad freedom to engineer your car, particularly in a formula that is so aero-dependent. CFD and wind tunnel time is ruinously expensive, and the more permissive the regs are the larger the problem space you need to explore to find the fastest car design. Consequently, it’s easier for a well-heeled team to just outspend everybody else to optimize their car into victory (see Merc until '21 and Red Bull since the new formula began).
WEC is having some luck with its “downforce design quota” approach, but even so they can’t get really close racing over an endurance race without BoP adjustments, which is something I don’t think the teams will countenance.
I hope F1 never gets close to being a spec series (there are tight regulations obviously, but not many parts are spec. A big part of F1, for me at least, is car development.
I agree, but in general it’s very hard to achieve close racing while also allowing broad freedom to engineer your car, particularly in a formula that is so aero-dependent. CFD and wind tunnel time is ruinously expensive, and the more permissive the regs are the larger the problem space you need to explore to find the fastest car design. Consequently, it’s easier for a well-heeled team to just outspend everybody else to optimize their car into victory (see Merc until '21 and Red Bull since the new formula began).
WEC is having some luck with its “downforce design quota” approach, but even so they can’t get really close racing over an endurance race without BoP adjustments, which is something I don’t think the teams will countenance.