Many things could be copy-pasted from the current code. Reputation is already there, I think it works fine, could need some fine tuning, who knows. I'm not sure how it works now, but let’s imagine this:
we have 2 key elements defining your performance level:
1) XP: grows in a linear and predictable way, this is our current ‘team level’ system.
2) Reputation: flows based on results on track and the reputation of those you raced against. So if you’re a young manager racing in a tough league including a peak level 30 team among others, you gain reputation quicker when doing a good job. While naturally there will only be one, maybe two teams in the same league reaching a level 30 status. Because only one team in a league can win at the same time. In a Red Bull – Mercedes 2021 kind of scenario it may be 2 teams, who knows 3 but you get the picture, it’s maths. Last seasons champion might have a bad season and fallen back to level 29 or 28.
How might the Reputation score be put together? I’m thinking of a system like the sponsors expectation: expectations for results to achieve will be based on your XP and not on your reputation. That means that a newer team with lower XP will have an easier time achieving expectations and increasing Reputation, while an experienced team with huge XP will have big factories but also big expectations and if they don’t get the results their Reputation score will decrease. Having an upper limit in XP points or not is up for debate.
And on a visual note: I imagine the HQ page showing pictograms of buildings with cracks and weeds. Time for maintenance: 7 days or 150 tokens. Better get your act together and work your team back to the top!
Before I finish, here is a simplified calculation to show what the gap in potential performance level on track could be:
manager 1: XP level 29 x reputation 4000 = 116000 (potential performance on track)
manager 2: XP level 18 x reputation 6500 = 117000 (potential performance on track)
This younger manager could have a higher performance car on the track despite having smaller XP and HQ. And he completely earned it. No artificial gimmicks, ballast or sprinklers.