Honda backs removal of token system

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Honda’s head of F1 project Yusuke Hasegawa has backed the scrapping of the token system which restricts power unit development.

The FIA announced during the Russian Grand Prix weekend that an agreement had been reached and approved by the World Motor Sport Council which would see the token system removed from 2017 onwards amid other measures to reduce the cost of power units to customer teams. With Honda having struggled upon its return to F1 in 2015, the token system restricted it from making any major changes during the season but Hasegawa is pleased those limitations have now been removed.

“We are happy to have removed the tokens for next season so we can have more freedom for the development which is good,” Hasegawa said. “Cost reduction is very tough for every manufacturer but we are happy and agree about that.”

The engine manufacturers are also looking to increase the noise of the power units, something Hasegawa feels is an unnecessary undertaking.

“On noise, I don’t personally agree and don’t know that we really need such a huge noise for F1 but if they want to introduce that we will follow their opinions and we have some degree of obligation as part of the F1 members so, yes, we can follow that.

“I don’t see that we need to some sort of artificial sound machine but if FOM wants to introduce that, we have to follow but personally I don’t see the benefit of that one.”

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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.