It would be good for the sport if rule changes could be announced with significant advanced notice, and those rules would stay in effect for 2-3 seasons. Upcoming rule changes could be announced while a 'static formula' was in effect. This would help the lower budget teams by allowing them plenty of time to design a new car according to the regulations, then both race and further develop the car while planning the next major changes.
This was the case in various parts of the 1970's, when any team could lease Cosworth DFV engines, and incorporate them into their own chassis design. Another big advantage was that cars one or two years old, (which still met the standards of the formula, but lacked the additional development of newer cars), often appeared as 'third cars' at selected races, or they were sold to smaller privately owned teams. The old British Formula 1 series, (also known as the Aurora series, from its primary sponsor), was contested by teams and drivers using 'used' F1 cars from previous seasons, almost all of which had the same Cosworth engine.
When this could be done in F1, many promising drivers received one-off rides in outdated cars - a good example is Gilles Villeneuve's F1 debut in a 1976 McLaren M23 at the 1977 British Grand Prix, (Silverstone).
During practice, most spectators thought this would be Villeneuve's one and only F1 appearance, as he continuously spun out at different corners. What they didn't know was that Villeneuve, driving an F1 car for the first time, was determining the cars limits on cornering speed. Whenever he spun out, he knew he had exceeded the car's limits. In qualifying, he placed 9th, higher than Jochen Maas in the works M26.
Despite his fine showing, McLaren boss Ron Dennis chose Patrick Tambay for the 1978 McLaren #2 seat, rather than Villeneuve, whom Dennis deemed to be potentially "too expensive", in reference to Gilles propensity to destroy cars beyond they point where they could be repaired. Dennis DID hire Andrea De Caesaris for the 1981 season, (eight retirements, 1 championship point), but that was a different situation - De Caesaris brought plenty of personal sponsorship money to the team from Marlboro; his family was the major distributor of Marlboro cigarettes in Italy, and at that time, Marlboro was the primary sponsor of two F1 teams, (McLaren and Alfa Romeo), several drivers, and title sponsor of the British Grand Prix. In the early races at Ile Notre-Dame/ Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, (1978 and possibly 1979) the title sponsor was Player's cigarettes, and later Labatt's brewery. At the 1984 Canadian Grand Prix, the RAM team gave away free samples of Skoal Bandits chewing tobacco, encased in small pouches. Imagine something like that happening today; I think NOT.