F1

How and when can the 32 engine tokens be used?

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  • #290266
    Tom_ec1
    Participant

    The “unfreeze” is confirmed but I have seen conflicting views on how/when the tokens may be deployed.

    Does anyone have some sort of official confirmation which of these understandings is correct?:

    (a) The 32 tokens must be used in one go (at any point in the season)
    or
    (b) The 32 tokens can be deployed in phases as the season progresses (i.e. incremental updates)

    If you have an answer, grateful if you could provide a source. Ideally the FIA but as usual they are useless when it comes to providing information to the public.

    #290290
    Roald
    Participant

    I’m not sure, but assuming it’s option B, manufacturers will still be limited by the amount of permitted power-units per car, which is 4. That automatically means they can’t spread out development indefinitely.

    #290368
    Tom_ec1
    Participant

    Based on the new quotes from Charlie Whiting in the new BBC article below, it sounds like manufacturers can deploy the 32 tokens in phases.

    For example, they may use 20 tokens prior to the Australian GP, then another 12 at later point(s).

    For me, this still leaves one question unanswered:
    – What happens to ‘older’ versions of the engine if new components are introduced mid season?
    – For example, if a new version is introduced at the Chinese GP, does that mean (i) the Australian GP engine can no longer be used, (ii) the older engine can be used alongside the newer engine or (iii) the older engine can be upgraded to include the newer parts

    Why the FIA are unable to provide a written explanation of the new rule (or better yet, the rule itself) on their website is beyond me.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30860212

    (Sadly for James Allen, this means his website’s lengthy article on the ‘strategy’ of when to use the new engines is wrong! It assumed they had to all be used in one go.)

    #290369
    MazdaChris
    Participant

    My own interpretation which may or may not be in line with how the FIA will apply the rules, is that there is no ‘new power unit’ each time it is upgraded. The homologated power unit is he one they started with in 2014, and the development tokens will be applied against that, but won’t be considered part of the homologated baseline. So they can run any combination of upgrades at any point during the season, as long as the same spec is applied to every one of their PUs on the grid. There does not appear to be anything within the sporting or technical regs which defines at what point during the year any of the tokens need to be applied, nor that they need to be applied at the same time, or even that they need to remain applied for the entire season.

    #290378
    Tom_ec1
    Participant

    Thanks @MazdaChris. My expectation is broadly the same as yours. However, I would have thought that once you have run an engine on the track at a GP weekend, then you cannot make any changes (apart from the standard proviso about replacing identical parts for safety reasons).

    If this is correct, then the four engines that teams use over the season would be materially different, perhaps with significant performance differences between early- and late-seasons (presumably, in that scenario, the early-season version would only be used in practice sessions once the newer versions arrive).

    I believe that at the end of the season the teams will formally need to homologate their engine (or by 31 December 2015) in order to meet the (new) literal interpretation of the rules.

    Then presumably this process repeats again in 2016, unless they agree to a change in the wording of the regulations.

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