The profession of car styling later called (Transportation Design that is part of Industrial design) was created to help sell cars by making them esthetically appealing it talks to the emotional side of the dissension making process, and the ultimate goal for the design team is to sell as many cars as possible.
The best case scenario is when we achieve the critical balance between functionality and style. Audi does a good job with that. In true sport cars the most important thing is functionality, but when engineers are left alone to design they could get out of control just like the designers do when they are not grounded by functionality, an example where engineers produced a bad design is the Chrysler Superbirds, and an example of designers (Stylist) went out of control are the fins of the 1950’s and many more.
So as the functionality is the most important thing in a race or performance car, it is important to have an appealing aspect to it based on that demographics sense of esthetics (people who are more likely to afford and buy that car). Sometime a new design comes along that sets a new and unconventional language that shapes our perception of what is appealing, This is mostly done by associating that design with a highly perceived brand as the luxury German and sport Italian cars do, then you see the other brands following and a new design language created.
In my designs I try to strike such balance but in this LMP design I added the factor of creating a new language as the performance of this car can constitute such a departure from the norm.
Thank you and apologies for the long explanation. Mike Enayah