Wrong Merc didn't shape them, Renault did. Merc invested and put the time into the project with great detail and long working hours. And in the end they came ahead. When Renault was wasting time with a later start, and finances, Merc was at work and poached plenty of lead designers to make sure this came about. They got a highly rated, WDC driver that is arguably the best driver in the past 10-12 years of F1. They revamped their aero team and department, and took the chance to win big in a new era of F1.
Ferrari was too busy arguing for different regs and didn't develop an engine fast enough, and those early engines they did make weren't up to spec it could be said, but they quickly fixed that and got with the program, and aren't that far from Merc in regards. Renault have never seemed to fully get it figured out, and expected almost a repeat of the V8 era when they also weren't good. But hey people forget their history so it's not a surprise that the easy answer is to say, "Mercedes made this all happen, so no way anything will change". Only thing they made happen was hard work in regards to a new form of F1. There have been many groups that did this, McLaren did it with the first turbo era. Williams did it with the 3.5 era and active suspension. Ferrari figured it out with the V10 era, RBR did it with the formation of the new aero rules in 2009 to 2013. That is how F1 has worked and probably always will work.
Also F1 while in new owner's hands, has nothing and remember this, absolutely nothing to do with the technical aspect and regards to how teams fight on track. The FOM is and always has been a method of how that entertainment is displayed. The FIA controls the most critical part and essentially the part you take issue with. So if you want to place blame do so toward the FIA, but realize this is an open formula competition and not a spec series, and what has made F1 the greatest series many times is that aspect along with the drama.
Last edited: Sep 20, 2017