No more restrictions for motor development in 2017
If hybrid engines are guaranteed to remain until 2020, manufacturers will also be able to develop the engines as much as they want from 2017 onwards since the token system will be abolished.
Last season was marked by discussions around the development tokens allowed on engines. The aim was to limit the development possibilities of the engines to slightly less than half of the components of these power units.
The reason for the establishment of this rule was to limit development costs in order to prevent all engine manufacturers from engaging in an arms race and an exponential increase in spending to make up the performance deficit compared to the current benchmark, Mercedes. The fear was that engine manufacturers would then pass these expenses onto their independent customers, who were already under financial pressure due to the new technical regulations.
Since then, the engine manufacturers have agreed not to charge more than 12 million euros per season for their engines, in exchange for which they are assured that no independent engine will appear. Therefore, it is the engine manufacturers who will absorb the additional costs.
Cyril Abiteboul, the general manager of Renault Sport, declared: « The token system has been removed. We all agree because we all need the engine performances to get closer. An F1 dominated by engine performance is good for no one. It’s not good for Mercedes, it’s not good for Renault, Ferrari. So we all wanted to change. To prevent the public from confusing the penalty system with the token system, we simply decided to remove the token system. »
From next season, Renault, Ferrari, and Honda will no longer be able to rely on the lack of authorized developments to explain their lag behind Mercedes. It remains to be seen if the manufacturers’ boards will accept that victory has no price…
With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr
