It might stay the same next year but 2026 has new regs so I'd imagine we'll have one team that got it more right than the others. Though back in 2008 we had a similar 7 winners from 5 different teams.
Hopefully, as a result of the budget cap, no team should steam ahead whilst the others play catch up for years. Whishful thinking perhaps ? The alternative is BoP in F1, and I would be surprised if Stefana Domenicali hadn't been thinking about it at some point.
Max’s comments about not being able to steer in as tightly as he wants (I think he likes oversteer?) for the past few weeks made sense to me as I saw the explanations of asymmetric braking; if he could punch the left front brake harder, that would be like a sailor dropping an anchor to accelerate the centrifugal force to the opposite side and explain how and why Max is persistently complaining about his turning (or lack thereof) now that they’ve “removed” it. He used to make turns that seemed impossible in slo mo, kind of like Lewis when he had the variable steering. Match that small loss in time with McL and MBZ front wing “adjustments” which have given them a small gain and it hits that Occam’s Razor sweet spot. Of course, I’m a man in a dark room with a bag on my head looking for the door with all of this...
I would have thought that having brake bias on the rear axle would have more effect. I think that's what McLaren had many years ago, before they were asked to remove it.
Back in the old days 7 different winners from 4 or 5 teams was pretty standard, and with shorter season schedules. For example, just taking a 3 year period, in 1979 with 15 races there were 7 different winners from 5 teams, in 1980 with only 14 races there were 7 different winners from 4 teams, in 1981 with 15 races there were 7 different winners from 6 teams, etc., etc. And in most races the winner wasn't determined until the last lap. Much more parity between both drivers and teams back in those days.
In 1979 just the top 10 drivers alone had a combined 52 official retirements. I doubt there has been that many across all 20 cars over the last 4 years combined. The best car was often 1 second faster than the next and full grid was separated by 7+ seconds in qualifying. It was common that teams did not qualify by being too slow. Very rarely did a race get decided on the last lap. It was usually a blow up. The last race of 79, Gilles won by 49 seconds. So the idea that cars and drivers were more equal back in the day is simply not true. The speed difference between cars have never been this close, and aside from a few pay drivers, the talent in F1 has never been better.
Although there were 7 winners from 5 teams in 1979, you're correct about the inordinate attrition. I remember that season very well, as my brother was a team manager and I helped out on his pit crew for several of the South American and European races. And despite some dominant finishes, there actually were several very close races, including the legendary Arnoux/Villeneuve battle at the French GP at Paul Ricard, still deemed one of the greatest F1 finishes of all time. Also Brazil, Monaco (Scheckter won by 4 tenths over Regazzoni) and Canada (Jones one second over Villeneuve) come to mind as well. But yes the season was filled with mechanical issues leading to an inordinate number of early retirements. Also a lot of crashes including the first lap at Argentina which took out half the field. Maybe I'm just an old-timer, but I found F1 much more exciting back in the old days. Hopefully, things are about to change with 4 teams now actually in the fight.
2012 comes to mind. 3 drivers were closer to each other than the current 3 right now after this many races.
Like any season in F1, 1979 had it's moments. I think some people watch the Gilles/Arnoux battle and base opinions of the entire season and/or those 2 drivers off that single battle. Most don't even realize that was a battle for second place. Jabouille won that race by over 14 seconds. With all the DNF's, all the mistakes by both drivers and teams allowed for more winners and for championships to be indecisive for longer periods. One could argue that is a more enjoyable F1 to watch. Everyone is so good now that there is not enough disparity and chance to shake things up. It can get incredibly stale. Then when 1 team has an edge over everyone, be it by 3 tenths or 2 seconds, it's horrendously boring since there are no DNF's to at least give a surprise result. So your opinion that 1979 was more exciting is certainly valid, the statement that it was more competitive between the cars and drivers cannot be supported.
Great season. Top 3 teams were all in it to win it. Lotus not too far behind. Even Mercedes had it's moments here and there. While the bottom teams were not as competitive as the bottom teams of today, even Williams managed to steal a win that season. I stand by saying 2024 has the highest level of talent ever from top to bottom and the cars from P1 to P20 are closer than ever, I would still say 2012 was the better season without a doubt.
