Renault aims to make progress without tokens

After Renault used the fewest tokens of any power unit manufacturer, Cyril Abiteboul still expects to see a step forward in performance.

The FIA released details of the number of tokens used by each manufacturer on Thursday evening, with Renault using only seven of the 32 available to it ahead of the start of the season. Ferrari led the way with 23 tokens spent, with Mercedes and Honda using 19 and 18 tokens each.

Renault Sport F1 managing director Abiteboul says Renault still wants to close the gap despite not using as many tokens as its rivals.

"I think that this is a demonstration that we have used little tokens but I hope in connection to the fact that we have made a substantial step in terms of performance will be actual evidence that there is no connection between token use and performance," Abiteboul said.

"You can use a lot of tokens and bring absolutely nothing in terms of lap time, which actually is maybe something we did last year. I think the whole debate of tokens should go away and we should focus on performance.

"There is a plan to use more tokens during the course of the season, that’s the plan and we have made lots of comments about that. Hopefully it will happen, both for the benefit of the Renault works team and also Red Bull."

Here is the list of each Power Unit supplier's token allocation left remaining ahead of the 2016 season:

Ferrari: 9 (23 used)
Mercedes: 13 (19 used)
Honda: 14 (18 used)
Renault: 25 (7 used)