Sole suppliers are nothing new to Formula 1. Pirelli has an exclusive contract to supply identical tyres to all 11 teams. Before that, Bridgestone did the same.
It’s a move aimed at closing the field. Removing a differentiator which could potentially give certain teams an advantage over another.
The FIA might be about to do the same with fuel and oil.
At present, the teams are allowed to choose which oil company supplies them and often in return they are paid millions by said company to display its logos on their cars.
Red Bull has Total, Ferrari has Shell, McLaren has Mobil 1, Mercedes has Petronas, Williams has PDVSA, Toro Rosso has Cepsa and the list goes on.
However, a finer detail in the World Motor Sport Council’s statement following a meeting on Friday suggests that might be about to change.
“One of the noteworthy aspects of the new 2013 Concorde Agreement is the new tender procedure for appointing single suppliers in the tyre and fuel categories, for the FIA F1 World Championship,” it read.
This could have major implications for the teams and could potentially result in the loss of significant sponsorship money as an oil company won’t be too happy sponsoring a rival who’s fuel is powering the car which bares its logo.
The tender process won’t be introduced until the end of the 2014 season, but the FIA can expect some retaliation if it goes ahead.
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