The FIA are incapable of rectifying the root problem of the pre-DRS/pre-CURSE/pre-disinte-Pirelli dearth of overtaking because they are loath to admit to any wrongdoing. Ever. They reckon they were virgin-born and shall remain sinless unto death.
There are many parallels between the survival of a business (or a racing league) and any living species. For example, all three must adapt in response to environmental pressures or they will perish. But those pressures inevitably always change over time, and a species' odds of survival can be undone either by inability to adapt quickly enough, or by old adaptations gone too far afield of present needs. So specialization in particular is a two-edged sword because never will there be any guarantee that those specializations which assured your survival today won't be the death of you tomorrow.
Speaking strictly of motor racing sports, no racing venue ever can have completely natural evolution because of the nature of the beast. Certain boundaries and barriers are part and parcel to establishing each venue's own unique formula. Past that, however, I have to agree with H.D. Thoreau, "That government is best which governs least."
Also in my view, the F1 car has gone far, far, far too far down a path of specialization that has too little to do with natural selection (or automotive developments in general) and too much to do with the FIA's perpetual meddling with the TR and SR under the rubric of stewardship of the F1 brand. The cars they have "evolved" are too identical one to another, too easily damaged by light contact, and too dependent on wing-generated downforce for their cornering grip. The F1 they have built is, near as makes no difference, spec racing. All of which is "fix-able," but the first steps in the fix come in the form of 1) acknowledging the problem and 2) assessing its true cause. Except the FIA can never go to #1 because #1 implies #2, and #2 is an admission of fallibility.
Businesses (and racing venues) have one distinct advantage over the animal kingdom in that no living species consciously can recongise its plight, cast its past adrift, entirely remake itself, and embark on a new course of its own choosing. And that is precisely what I believe F1 must do if it is to endure
and remain regarded as the preeminent form of motor racing on the planet.
Since the rise of
El Supremo, the FIA incrementally and ceaselessly have pushed the evolution of the F1 car further and further into a direction of its own particular choosing, with little to no regard for the impact on the nature of the competition. They would appear to believe that
the business of F1 is a fragile thing that must be safeguarded at all cost, while
the sport of F1 is
so robust and
so adaptable that it can continue to thrive, regardless of what changes and challenges they might heap upon it. Or more to the point, for 30 years they have been taking the F1 fans largely for granted, banking on them being so indiscriminate (or so gullible) that they won't notice that the
foie gras F1 is selling them is beginning to taste a great deal like bologna.
The 2014 formula is just another step towards the precipice because the TR are more tightly constrained than ever and the sport willingly is trading its birthright for brief approval from The New Green Religion.
Why oh why have F1 suddenly decided it must be "relevant"? When has it
ever been relevant? To the contrary, motor racing in general and F1 in particular always has been about escapism. Its popularity, its very
raison d'être,
is rooted in its ir-relevancy, its other-worldliness, because what attracts race fans of ANY stripe to attend ANY racing event -- four wheeled, two wheeled, airborne, water-borne, two-legged or four -- is the promise of experiencing something beyond the mundanity of their daily existence.
Expecting fans to buy tickets to a race based on its relevancy is like expecting cinema-goers to pay to watch a film of people just like them, doing the same things they do, day in and day out. If you think a 30% reduction in fuel consumption is going to produce a spike in F1 ticket sales (or reduce any decline), I think you are in for a rude awakening.
I'm not suggesting F1 altogether should ignore the realities of the world around it, but there are ways to express a solidarity without materially and needlessly impacting the quality of the racing. The appropriate way to express concerns about starving children in Somalia is not to require that the drivers refrain from eating for the duration of the race weekend.
DRS and CURSE and disinte-Pirellis are not the cure for the slump in overtaking that began around 1985, they are further symptoms of its cause.
And if you believe the level of competition has improved simply because the number of overtakes skyrocketed beginning in 2010, ...well, the facts tell a different story
List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions
2010 
Sebastian Vettel 
Red Bull* Renault
2011 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull* Renault
2012 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull* Renault
