Had a bit of a debate with a colleague today after he had seen the lap record time for Montoya at Monza.
Montoya, Williams BMW, 2004: 1m20.264
Hamilton, Mercedes, 2014 : 1m24.109
They were stuck with 3 sets of (grooved) tyres back then too, and iirc were qualifying with their race tyres and race fuel? (Refuelling but no tyre changes at pit stops).
Which combination of car and power-train would be the strongest?
Would a V10 in Hamilton's car, with the current rules, just obliterate the 2014 cars, would it beat the 2004 lap record?
Would Montoya's car be capable of going significantly faster still, on 2014 tyres and proper qualifying fuel load?
Would Montoya's 2004 car, with 2004 regs, be slower than Hamilton's 2014 lap, if his BMW had the 2014 Mercedes power-train?
I know it's all a simplification. You could pick it apart with, "but packaging.... that wouldn't fit" or "The car is completely designed around X", I could do that too, it's just for fun