Quote from cpn72 :

You have to be very naive to believe that a team of 3 people was able to make an outstanding model of tire physics, which cannot be done by large teams of developers of other race simulators.

If can be done... then why they don't do it?
I think the smaller the team the bigger the chance they come up with something outstanding, different, better.
Because big teams are chasing the big money, not the outstanding quality, making a sequel every year offering literally nothing new.

I think it's perfectly douable for only one man to make the core physics engine, Stefano Casillo (ex Kunos physics/graphics main dev) is the perfect example for that, I guess even SMS and Iracing have only one or two guys working on such tasks.

Audio, networking API and graphics assets are the most dependent on staff numbers, sometimes specialized developers for specific domain like AI and VFX are often needed too.

I can't wait for whenever the next LFS update comes. I'm not in any hurry for it, I know they'll take their time. I still love the physics in LFS and the force feedback/overall driving feel. Still hop on for FBM at Blackwood sometimes. I think I speak for many people when I say that: sure, we don't play LFS daily or even that often, but it still has a spot among one of the best driving games. When the update comes out, I really think it'll breathe some life back into the game and a lot of people will, like me, be excited and dust off LFS and hop back on.