Ford and Hyundai would basically be still factory teams in terms of budgets and development, simply without the whole marketing thing of a fully-fledged factory team. Don't think an Average Joe will research through the FIA registration papers to check if "M-Sport Qatar" will have anything different than "M-Sport Ford".
I mean, really... I'd go 100% for a Qatar-whoeveritpays-backed private M-Sport team with 3-4 cars at each event like in 2013, rather than a "factory" Ford with 1.5 on the entry list!
At the end of the story, we need an interesting, challenging championship that can deliver spectacle on the special stages and thus on TV to be back to its old glory days. I don't really care about who will pay the fee to the FIA for Manufacturer registration lmao

McErlean's sponsors already mentioned some time earlier this year, that he has already shown enough progress to keep his fundings.
Silly Season 2026