Honda allowed engine development during 2015 F1 season

Following a meeting between the Japanese car manufacturer and F1 race director Charlie Whiting last Monday, the FIA agreed to consider tweaking the engine rules.

It came after Honda was left upset that rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault would be allowed to introduce upgrades throughout 2015 while it had to stick with the power unit it has to homologate on February 28.

Honda felt that treating it in such a way was unfair and left it facing the prospect of losing ground to its rivals over the course of the campaign.

Following the meeting, the FIA has reconsidered its position and agreed that Honda can have some room to introduce developments, so it is treated as equally as possible to the current car makers.

In a document sent to teams by Whiting on Friday, a copy of which has been seen by AUTOSPORT, the governing body clarified how new entrants would be treated.

It has been agreed that during the year of their entry, new manufacturers like Honda will be allowed as many improvements as other engine makers are planning to introduce.

Whiting stated: "As each of the four 2015 manufacturers will have an homologated power unit at the start of the season, we believe it would be fair to ensure that each of them enjoys equal opportunities for upgrades during the season.

"We will therefore allow the new manufacturer to use the same number of tokens that the other three manufacturers have available to them, taken as an average of the three.

"For example, if the three 2014 manufacturers have eight, seven and five unused tokens respectively at the start of the season, then the new manufacturer will be allowed to use six during the season (the average rounded down to the nearest whole number)."

The current manufacturers have a total of 32 tokens that can be used to improve their engines for this year, although it is likely the upgrades will be split between the winter and later in the campaign.

As each year goes on, the number of tokens available decreases.