Quote:
Originally Posted by Inigo Montoya
I can see your point Mike, but as an engineer heavily involved in R&D, freezes on development take a lot away from the sport for me. I do understand the need to keep costs from skyrocketing, but I wish a better compromise could be found. It is a shame that these rules (together with the limits on testing) make it so difficult for the other manufacturers to catch up this year.
I know this is not a popular opinion , but a part of me wishes for a formula where the big boys could just be allowed to play with their toys free of having to worry about the impact on the little guys, who in any case are often on circuit simply to be shown blue flags.
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But the rules don't stop R & D; it just means that they are not able to impliment gains until a certain date in the future. This will (or should) then allow them adequate time to build in reliabilty, rather than testing that potential reliability during the races.
As far as Renault and Ferrari catching up this year, I believe that part of their problem, and I am quite happy to be corrected, is that they have been unable to utilise the full rev range, and are having to restrict the IC units to roughly 12,000 rpm instead of the maximum allowable 15,000 rpm. If, during this year, they are permitted to make the necessary changes to improve reliabilty during this season, which should be permissable, then they may well be in a position to challenge the Merc boys.
In the past, it has been demonstrated that the little guys are more than capable of wipeing the floor with the big boys, and Hesketh and Matra come to mind, so you write them off at your peril.