Soldato
I think a lot of what is missing now is the sense of excitement more than the racing. You can have good racing and good races with any set of rules in the right circumstances. What sets the past from the present is the sense of what might happen at any point.
In the 80s, 90s and earlier than that, there was always unpredictability. An engine could pop at any point and change the race (much more unlikely now with a billion sensors) but more than anything the cars looked on edge. Look at Hockenheim or Monza from the 80s or 90s - the cars weren't driving in a straight line, they were twitching and bouncing along the straights. It looked terrifying and difficult. All that has gone from F1 now.
You've just described modern cars too.
Too capable, too expensive, too much to go wrong, and not exciting enough compared to the stuff from the 80s and 90s