Blog - Changes in F1 Primary Facilities
Changes in F1 Primary Facilities
Each Formula 1 team at My Racing Career has 11 facilities of which 3 are considered to be primary. They have key effects during a certain time and it might be worth using them on a high level and then downgrading them to save money. But there are restrictions to avoid this strategy.
Currently, if teams downgrade Chassis Department they would have to accept downgraded chassis and aerodynamic parts. If they downgrade Engine Department they would have to accept downgrading engines built on that level of facility and downgrading the Research & Development Center would lead to lower quality of mechanical parts developed on the previous level of the facility.
The reason for this is simple. Teams cannot build more parts with the same quality in a worse facility. That seems to be too big an obstacle to changing teams' long-term strategies. So we need to find a better option than to downgrade car parts.
So this is how the rules will be changed at the beginning of MRC season 38.
Chassis Department
The chassis department can be used to upgrade the current car and develop cars for the next season. Problem is that if the team decides to downgrade the department before starting the development of the next season's car, they still need to use chassis for the current season. Downgrading the quality of this chassis would spoil the season.
The current rule says that the team will get back 60% of building costs but for example, downgrading from level 4 to level 3 means chassis and aerodynamics parts would be downgraded to quality 60 or by 5% whichever is lower. This option stays possible.
In addition to that a new option will be added. The chassis department can be downgraded with 30% of building costs refunded. In this case potential of all aerodynamics parts for the current and next season including chassis and parts under development will be lowered to the current quality of that particular part.
That means no more upgrades on parts developed on a higher level of the facility will be possible. Only new developments from the beginning will make sense. 30% of the refundable fee will be used to produce enough spare parts for the rest of the season.
Engine Department
The engine department can be used to upgrade the current engine and develop a new engine when rules on engine building are changed. The problem comes when new rules are introduced and the team would like to develop a new engine with a downgraded department. Downgrading the current engine quality would spoil the last 2 seasons with old engine rules.
The current rule says that the team will get back 60% of building costs but for example downgrading from level 4 to level 3 means the engine would be downgraded to quality 60 or by 5% whichever is lower. This option stays possible.
In addition to that new option will be added but only during those last 2 seasons before new engine rules are used. The engine department can be downgraded with 30% of building costs refunded. In this case, the potential of all engines for current and next rules including those under development will be lowered to the current quality of that particular part.
That means no more upgrades on parts developed on a higher level of the facility will be possible. Only new developments from the beginning will make sense. 30% of the refundable fee will be used to produce enough spare parts for the rest of the time when the engine can be used.
Research & Development Center
Research & Development Center can be used to build KERS (changed to Energy Storage in the future), gearbox, steering, cooling, and potentially also brakes, suspension, and electronic control unit in the future. The problem comes when the team already has more high-quality parts developed. Downgrading their quality would spoil some racing time until the team develops new parts on a new department level.
The current rule says that the team will get back 60% of building costs but for example downgrading from level 4 to level 3 means all mechanical parts would be downgraded to quality 60 or by 5% whichever is lower. This option stays possible.
In addition to that a new option will be added. Research & Development Center can be downgraded with no building costs refunded. In this case, the potential of all mechanical for current and next rules including those under development will be lowered to the current quality of that particular part. All mechanical parts can be used for 3 more seasons in case of parts which does not have changing rules. Mechanical parts with changing rules after some seasons will be usable until new rules.
That means no more upgrades on parts developed on a higher level of the facility will be possible. Only new developments from the beginning will make sense. 60% of the refundable fee will be used to produce enough spare parts for the rest of the time when mechanical parts can be used.