Following on from my earlier thread on tyres, I thought it was worth widening the debate to discuss the rule changes in F1 that have resulted in the cars becoming closer and closer in terms of design and ultimately performance.
If we look at the changes that have taken place over the last 10-20 years, it would seem F1 is more and more becoming a single make series.
A recent article from F1-Live has FOTA stating that front and rear wings will be homologated from 2010.
Engines have been limited in capacity and configuration since the late 1980's but the restrictions have increased of late with rev limits being introduced.
Most recently the FIA have suggested that a single engine supplier will be the future, although I can't see it ever happening thankfully.
Tyres are now a single supplier since 2007 but before that the size and number of wheels was limited to 4 ruling out ground-breaking designs such as the Tyrrell P34.
The bodywork rules are already extremely restricted but now we have homologation of front and rear wings which will essentially result in identikit wings.
Many other design aspects including weight, ride height, etc. have been clearly defined for a long time.
Any other technical innovations, such as McLaren's early KERS system or Renault's now famous mass damper system*, seem to be outlawed despite not being against the technical rules and regulations.
I have no doubt missed other areas but you get the idea.
The end result of all these technical and design restrictions is that the cars are closer than ever in terms of performance with the gap between first and last on the grid smaller than ever.
Is that a good thing though as it stops the truly gifted designers and innovators from demonstrating their skill and making the next leap forward.
I fail to see where future technical innovations are going to come from with such restrictions in place.
Am I being overly pessimistic or is what made F1 what it was gradually being lost?
* More than likely a victim of Ferrari's technical veto.
If we look at the changes that have taken place over the last 10-20 years, it would seem F1 is more and more becoming a single make series.
A recent article from F1-Live has FOTA stating that front and rear wings will be homologated from 2010.
Engines have been limited in capacity and configuration since the late 1980's but the restrictions have increased of late with rev limits being introduced.
Most recently the FIA have suggested that a single engine supplier will be the future, although I can't see it ever happening thankfully.
Tyres are now a single supplier since 2007 but before that the size and number of wheels was limited to 4 ruling out ground-breaking designs such as the Tyrrell P34.
The bodywork rules are already extremely restricted but now we have homologation of front and rear wings which will essentially result in identikit wings.
Many other design aspects including weight, ride height, etc. have been clearly defined for a long time.
Any other technical innovations, such as McLaren's early KERS system or Renault's now famous mass damper system*, seem to be outlawed despite not being against the technical rules and regulations.
I have no doubt missed other areas but you get the idea.
The end result of all these technical and design restrictions is that the cars are closer than ever in terms of performance with the gap between first and last on the grid smaller than ever.
Is that a good thing though as it stops the truly gifted designers and innovators from demonstrating their skill and making the next leap forward.
I fail to see where future technical innovations are going to come from with such restrictions in place.
Am I being overly pessimistic or is what made F1 what it was gradually being lost?
* More than likely a victim of Ferrari's technical veto.