Why do F1 cars from different eras share characteristics?

It is one of Formula 1's most persistent quirks: teams produce cars that feel strikingly similar from year to year, even when the regulations change dramatically.

McLaren's MCL40 has traits recognisable from its predecessors. Red Bulls share a family resemblance across multiple generations, and so on and so forth. 

A car can carry weaknesses its team has been trying to shake for seasons, as well as having inherent strengths.

But why? Neil Houldey, technical director for applied engineering at McLaren, offered a fascinatingly candid explanation.

"We ask ourselves this internally, and honestly, I'm not sure we get all the answers, but it's really interesting," Houldey said.

"In part it's what the drivers ask for, and in part it's how we run our CFD, how we run our wind tunnel, how we inherently develop performance.

"If we produce a car that always does XYZ, it's probably because we always do ABC in development, because we think ABC is the right thing to do."

The point is a fundamental one: teams use the same simulation environments, the same wind tunnel philosophies and the same correlation practices from one regulation era to the next.

If those tools have inherent biases, rewarding certain aerodynamic solutions over others, the cars they produce will inevitably share characteristics.

"We see where lap time performance can be found and develop our car in those directions," Houldey added.

"Other teams have different views on where to find performance, and they go in that direction, and they also produce a car with the same traits, year-on-year, irrespective of the era."

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies made the same observation from a different angle in 2025, explaining why understanding the RB21's weaknesses was essential before designing the RB22 for the new regulations.

"We needed to understand why it's not performing because, fundamentally, we'll be using the same tools, the same process, the same methodologies next year," the Frenchman said.

For some teams, persistent characteristics are not welcome. Alex Albon recently described Williams' struggles with the FW48 in strikingly biological terms.

"We know the weaknesses of the car, we know the direction, and the work that's been done at the factory is the biggest effort I've seen from the team to fight these genetic DNA problems it has," the two-time podium finisher said, adding that the real priority is ensuring the 2027 car does not inherit the same traits.

It illustrates Houldey's point. The cars are different, the regulations are different, but the people, the processes and the philosophies remain unchanged.