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2015 in season development


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#1 ardbeg

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 21:26

I feel that there was hardly any change in the relative strengths between the teams from Australia to Abu Dhabi. Mercedes was just as superior in the last race as the first. Ferrari was the only one remotely close, Williams headed the midpack and Sauber ended it. McLaren improved relative to the others, but far less than anyone expected and they never even reached the mid pack. 

Has there ever been any season this static? Worse - is there any hope that next season will be anything but a repeat of this one?



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#2 SenorSjon

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 21:28

Well, this is the test and token ban for you. I hate it and it ruined F1.

#3 Scotracer

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 21:41

Force India have made major progress. Sauber fell behind.

Unfortunately that's just the way the rules are now - scope for aero development is less and less as the years progress and the chassis development isn't near as critical.

Mercedes have just done the best job in all quarters - best Powertrain, best aero (along with RBR) and by all accounts best chassis too. Ferrari have done a great job as well but it appears their aero isn't as effective.

#4 scheivlak

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 21:44

Force India became way more competitive with their mid-season upgrade. Williams fell a bit backwards, relatively speaking.

 

FI scored slightly more points than Red Bull and almost as many points as Williams in the 9 GPs after the summer break, while they were only just ahead of Lotus and Toro Rosso before that.



#5 ArkZ

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 21:55

Cars are so developed aerodynamically that theres only tweaks in season, which basically doesn't change the order in the grid, F1 need changes. Remember 2009 when solid updates brought 0.7-1s or 2012 after blown diffuser, when Ferrari in 5 races overcome 1.5s loss to front runners, McLaren from fastest car at the start, fell down the order by mid season to be the fastest again in the end?. Redbull era left us with so restricted rules in terms of areo, plus frozen engines now that it is just boring in terms of in season development.


Edited by ArkZ, 30 November 2015 - 21:58.


#6 Imateria

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 22:08

Other than McLaren, no one produced a car that was better or worse than you would expect them to , which is actually a bit unusual as there's usually 1 team in the midfield that gets it wrong but not this year and none of those teams have much in the way of a development budget now so between that and the overly restricted regulations we're not really going to see much change in that regards.



#7 ardbeg

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 22:11

Yes, Force India improved, but the "upgrade" was, as I understand, basically the delayed 2015 car. Before that they raced the 2014 var with only the necessary changes.



#8 scheivlak

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 22:20

The problem with these kind of threads is that everybody starts whinging about the restricted regulations while, of course, the real problem is the financial structure of F1. The rich teams are well paid - whether they perform or not - and the poor teams just barely survive. Without restrictions they wouldn't be able to compete at all, would be blown away -almost literally - by the teams who can afford a development race and would just fold.

 

The basic illness of F1 is its financial structure.


Edited by scheivlak, 30 November 2015 - 22:20.


#9 ardbeg

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 22:26

 

The basic illness of F1 is its financial structure.

That's the basic illness of he world



#10 Massa_f1

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Posted 30 November 2015 - 22:50

With the current rules gone are the days of really noticeable in season development. Yes I know Force India did ok development wise, but didn't they basically bring an entire new car out mid season?

 

That's why we will know once winter testing is half way through who is going to be where in the competitive order. Which also never used to be entirely the case. Shame for the sport really.



#11 SenorSjon

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Posted 01 December 2015 - 08:23

Force India brought in their 2015 car half a year to late. I wonder what they could have done if it was introduced in time. I can hardly count that as in season development. More lagging behind.



#12 sopa

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Posted 15 December 2015 - 17:57

Has there ever been any season this static? Worse - is there any hope that next season will be anything but a repeat of this one?

 

The pecking order of 2007 was very static. Either McLaren or Ferrari the best depending on circuit. BMW Sauber was third best on almost all circuits, and then the rest.



#13 ardbeg

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Posted 15 December 2015 - 18:01

The pecking order of 2007 was very static. Either McLaren or Ferrari the best depending on circuit. BMW Sauber was third best on almost all circuits, and then the rest.

Yes, but the 'either' in there is pretty important. Mercedes was superior as #1 all season and Ferrari was a lonely #2. Only thing that changed that status was when they messed up, the relative strength between Ferrari and Mercedes did not change.