Quote Originally Posted by Sulland View Post
Does the tech level of the 2017 generation car mean that privat teams are history?
When was the last time a "real" private team was very competitive?

Maybe Solberg with C4.. but was it all that private? Also it was at the end of C4 development, so there was not so much new coming for factory cars. Even less sure about his DS3 time. Most of M-Sports cars are always half-factory, depending on how much people pay.

The point about C4 development applies also now, with new cars the factor teams are introducing rather big changes as often as possible now. When the current generation is more mature and/or nearing a bigger rule change it's more likely that "privateer" cars are more similar. But yes at the start of the year Řstberg's car was prbly same as others, but then the differences started to increase.