After creating a thread to discuss these ideas, they are now implemented.
1) The research conducted at each race is more clearly explained and displayed on the Cars page, right alongside design points.
2) A new Research Dialog has been added to the Cars page, showing the performance level of your team vs the best teams in the league.
3) Research now analyses each individual area where any team is stronger than your team, and earns a portion of the difference in that particular area. The gains are based on the power of your research, determined by the Research star rating on the Cars page.
4) The wording of the Technical Director report after each race has been improved. The wording no longer says who is the "best" team, but rather who has the "most developed" car (most design points assigned). As having the most design points doesn't necessarily mean a car is the best, this should avoid any confusion when on-track performance differs from the report.
5) The "Research" HQ is now renamed to the "Technology" HQ, to avoid confusion between the two features