Honda will have nine development tokens to use throughout the 2015 season to upgrade its power unit, the FIA confirmed on Friday.
The Japanese manufacturer looked set to start the season with none, following a ruling that it should be treated like its rival manufacturers in their first season.
Therefore it would be required to submit a final design for homologation prior to the start of the season, with changes only permitted for reliability improvements.
However, a loophole exploited by Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes this season meant they could use their 32 tokens at any time during the year, rather than during the winter as the FIA had originally planned.
What are tokens?
The power unit is made up of a total of 66 ‘tokens’. Certain parts are assigned more tokens because they have a greater influence over performance. Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari are given 32 tokens each, with which they can use to modify their engine.
Honda wasn’t included in this, but later complained to the governing body and they reversed their decision with certain restrictions.
Honda would only be granted an average of what its three rivals had remaining come the first race of the season, which works out at nine.
Mercedes has used 25 of its 32, therefore has seven remaining. Ferrari has 10 and Renault 12. An average is 9.66, which the FIA has rounded down.
These could prove vital to Honda and McLaren’s season as not only has poor reliability been a major factor in their preparations, but they’re believed to be down on performance when compared to the leading Mercedes unit.
