Quote:
Originally Posted by Pingguest
Having said that, all teams but Red Bull are simply too close together - the cars have converged yet again. If two cars have almost identical speeds and characteristics, there will be no overtaking.
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I will be honest, I am usually very puzzled by this type of logic. Either performance is too different so they can't run close enough to pass, now their performance is too similar so they can't pass?
Now the "characteristics" part might have some validity. But what I think you saying (?) is that if cars had different pros/cons of that some cars might be able to pass in some situations (such as circuit or type of corner preference)? For example one car might be optimized for top speed and another for cornering.
I think the flaw in this thinking is that ALL cars will need some type of specific "flaw" that can be exploited by a car that doesn't have that same flaw? But what happens when all cars start to approach some type of hypothetical performance limit? That modeling and design shows that all teams see the same characteristics results in the fastest car?
Lets say that the most perfect lap time (given weight, power, traction) might be a 1:30. A decade ago (with less knowledge) cars might be running something like a 1:50 and those running that average lap time might have various things they get right and some things they get wrong on the lap (hence the slower lap time). Now, lets say cars are running a 1:35 on average. So the variability of performance between the entire field will be much lower. That results in much closer performance parity and also... harder to make a pass unless someone makes a mistake. And along with improved performance also can mean improved drivability, so while mistakes happen, they are less of an issue.
Richard