The dust has barely settled after the Midseason Driver update as MFIA delivers new regulatory bombshell.

New supplier pricing model

A new fixed price supplier model was unveiled, imposing teams with a total cost of 0.2c – 0.1c for enginges and 0.1c for tires – to continue using the high performance suppliers. For those who can’t afford or don’t want to pay, free low-performance alternatives are available.

“Works teams” get no choice

For works teams such as Ferrari and Mercedes, the news could mean trouble as the MFIA will be forcing the teams to a specific supplier choice, effectively decreasing the works teams’ budgets by 0.1c regardless of the teams wishes. MFIA president /u/wwesmudge comments:

So basically this idea just helps teams utilise that spare coinage they have after signing and securing drivers to maximise their teams strength. Some teams are restricted however, for example Mercedes must use Mercedes engines, Ferrari must use Ferrari engines.

Supplier choice to impact driver signings?

While the idea is that teams can spend spare credits from the driver signings to upgrade their car, the reality will more like be that teams driver selections will depend on which suppliers will be selected. For some teams who wish to retain their drivers, it might mean having to let go of a driver for a cheaper one, or compromising on their suppliers.

Teams to negotiate contracts?

So far teams have been negotiating engine deals on behalf of their respective suppliers, but the recent announcement seems to point to a change of this practice. With the introduction of a fixed price model, the MFIA seeks to regulate the negotiation and supply, leaving existing team-to-team engine deals void.