Categories: 2016 SeasonF1 News, Reports and Race Results

Power unit development rules relaxed for 2016

Power unit manufacturers will face less development restrictions than originally planned in 2016 following a meeting with the FIA.

The FIA and the four power unit manufacturers - Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda - met in Geneva on Thursday and agreed to allow in-season power unit development next season rather than sticking to the previous homologation deadline of February 28.

Furthermore, it was agreed to allow the same level of power unit development as this season in 2016. As a result, manufacturers will have 32 tokens to spend throughout the year (which equates to 48% of the power unit) rather than the 25 (38%) which were originally planned.

The change will be welcome news to both Renault and Honda as they attempt to close the gap to the Mercedes and Ferrari power units. Previously, the manufacturers would have had to attempt to implement any improvements by February 28 2016 and have had no opportunity to make changes other than for reliability purposes. The relaxation of the regulations removes that time pressure.

Another regulation change which has been agreed by the power unit manufacturers relates to the supply of year-old engines. This year, Ferrari was permitted to supply Manor with a 2014-spec engine, but the FIA had moved to prevent such a deal next season. However, that decision has now been reversed, opening the door for Ferrari to supply Toro Rosso with 2015 power units next year.

All of the agreed changes will still need to be approved and ratified, first by the F1 Commission and then by the World Motor Sport Council.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.