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It's called trying to win. Not to mention, as I've said many times previously, you have to factor in the ERS incentive (which Toyota benefited from as much as anyone, especially in '14 and this year/late last year) as well as the fact that these rules were originally supposed to expire at the end of last season. Trying to get to 8mj in three years time (Porsche did it in one) when Audi and TMG were barely pulling 3.5MJ in 2013 (while spending significantly less money than Audi Sport were in '14-16 and TMG the past couple of years) IMO says a lot.
Mind you, without dieselgate, VAG would have at least Audi or Porsche there right now. This is all driven by public relations/saving face/court of public opinion, even when they're still making huge profits even while setting lawsuits, present and future. Technical overkill? Absolutely? Driven by instant gratification? Absolutely. But the ACO provided the conditions for it to happen because they rode that instant gratification train as much or more than anyone else.
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