Small teams have always come and gone, but it really does seem like there's no way to enter this sport in a meaningful way anymore, unless you're a constructor or an energy drink company. I do disagree about the second point, though. Not only have Mercedes and Ferrari made steps forward, but also Sauber and Lotus. Williams is still competitive as well. It's really only the Renault teams that seem to suffer. And Honda, of course. With how the season has started, I also think we're going back to last years limitations regarding the engine use. Even in testing it looked like Mercedes were the only gone going to flat out reliability (and they had the least wear last year, so it could be scary). The pit stop errors are likely not related to the current state of F1

lol). Absolutely agree with the rest, though.