F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Ferrari spends final power unit tokens on Monza update

Ferrari has become the first team to spend all of its power unit development tokens on an update at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Scuderia had spent 23 of its power unit tokens before the start of the season, and upgrades introduced in Russia and Canada each cost three tokens, leaving the team with just three remaining. Those final tokens have now been spent on a Monza upgrade, meaning Ferrari has none remaining for power unit development this season.

While certain areas can't be improved for performance purposes as a result, Ferrari can still update the power unit for reliability reasons.

Ferrari's upgrade follows major developments for Honda (seven tokens) and Mercedes (five tokens) at Spa-Francorchamps. Honda and Mercedes now have three and six tokens left for use this season respectively.

  • Honda plans to spend all tokens on upgrades in 2016

Renault introduced a B-spec power unit at the Monaco Grand Prix which delivered a step forward in performance, which only cost the French manufacturer three tokens at the time. Renault still has 21 tokens available to use for development as a result, with managing director Cyril Abiteboul previously stating it doesn't necessarily have to spend tokens to improve performance.

Ferrari: 0 (32 used)
Honda: 3 (29 used)
Mercedes: 6 (26 used)
Renault: 21 (11 used)

Claire Williams on Felipe Massa and 2017 driver plans

Romain Grosjean column: Speed, sponsors and scheduling

2016 Italian Grand Prix preview

Technical snapshot - Belgium

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.

Recent Posts

F1 drivers squeeze in tradition before Abu Dhabi epic

On the eve of Formula 1’s thrilling 2025 title decider in Abu Dhabi, the entire…

23 mins ago

Hamilton won't miss current F1 cars - but fears 2026 'might be worse'

As Formula 1 prepares to wave goodbye to its current rule set in Abu Dhabi,…

1 hour ago

F1 drivers rally around Antonelli after abuse from ‘scum of the earth’

On the eve of Formula 1’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, drivers set aside championship…

3 hours ago

Abu Dhabi GP: Thursday's media day in pictures

Formula 1's 2025 season hurtles toward its dramatic close this weekend in Yas Marina, with…

16 hours ago

Verstappen: Let McLaren play games – 'all that matters is the trophy'

In a title showdown charged with tension, numbers, and a hint of intra-team intrigue, Max…

16 hours ago

Leclerc says Ferrari early pivot to 2026 ‘a no-brainer’

Charles Leclerc isn’t sugarcoating Ferrari’s struggles this season – but he also isn’t second-guessing the…

18 hours ago