I don't know the game, but wouldn't this make sense as a game balancing aspect? In real life some vehicles might be "strictly better" than others but doesn't make for very interesting gameplay
If I were to characterize your statement, you would agree that J.R.R. Tolkien should have written the hobbits as massive muscular warriors who can stand against the Uruk-hai as equally competent fighters. The Uruk-hai were "strictly better" weren't they?
No, because J.R.R tolkien isn't a game designer? Also even if it was a game you're misusing "strictly better". If their food consumption, costs to equip, costs to train are different even if in a 1v1 combat situation the uruk-hai would win that doesn't translate to strictly better
edit: also, the point of a game is to be fun not to accurately characterize the real world (i.e. how many games have you played where you have to urinate or poop for the character?)
Matches are so made that you will only fight vehicles with a similar strength. Each vehicle has its own rating and a a slight (dis)advantage is tolerated to more easily find a match.
Problem is, nerfed vehicles like the HSTV-L have a higher rating than OP stuff like the 2S38, even though the HSTV-L is worse than it actually should be IRL.
The higher BR a vehicle has the more capable vehicles it has to fight.
Apparently the game divides the various vehicles into tiers based on their performance. Within a match, only vehicles from a certain "band" of performance may be played, meaning either those vehicles are similar in power or have playerbases that manages a similar output.