A start-up team doesn't earn much money either. They have to run with the capital that they have from sponsors or a patron. But if you could get a customer chassis then when you are out prospecting for sponsorship you could go out and say: 'we're building infrastructure over a two year span, we're competing in races, we're building a prototype of our own, we're learning like mad and in 2 years time we'll have a competitive car through which we'll earn X million when we join and are compiling points in the constructors championship'..etc.
There might nothing that would stop a team from entering all year round, compete in a customer car for most of the year but then roll out a prototype for a couple of races to test in competition conditions and maybe finish the season with the customer car. That might be a scenario a new team that chose this option could experience.
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