[FIAF1] FIA backtrack allows Honda same development rights

FIA backtrack allows Honda same development rights as other F1 manufacturers

Honda has been granted some engine development freedom for the 2015 Formula One season.

The Japanese manufacturer had argued to the FIA that being left out of 2014 suppliers Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari's 'unfreeze' loophole was unfair.

No fifth power unit for drivers in 2015

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)."

F1's governing body originally believed Honda should have to stick to the strict February 28 homologation deadline, as it had been free to prepare its turbo V6 throughout last year and the forthcoming winter period while its 2015 rivals had been locked into the so-called 'freeze.'

But after high-level meetings between disgruntled Honda chiefs and the FIA in recent days, British broadcasters reported on Saturday that McLaren's new works supplier has won the day.




One of the most awkward situations in recent F1 governance has taken a further twist this  past weekend with the revelation that the FIA’s Charlie Whiting has backtracked on his original edicts and will allow new manufacturer Honda the same rights to develop its engine during this 2015 season as the other three manufacturers in F1.

This follows lobbying from Honda at the start of the week, after they were originally told that they would have to homologate an engine by February 28th, while the other manufacturers would be allowed to work on 32 areas of the engine (using a token for each on developed) during the year.

The new ruling means that Honda will be given an average of the tokens remaining among the other three manufacturers once the season has started.

So is it fair and was there any other way to manage a situation which is unbelievably complicated and which once again drags F1 into portraying itself as a sport where the key players bicker over obscure technical issues?

The Original decision on Honda

When accepting that the wording of the rules on homologation meant that there was no specific date given in 2015 by which engines needed to be homologated, Whiting said he accepted that the engine homologation loophole existed and added that it would not be “fair and equitable” for a new manufacturer to be allowed the same freedoms in 2015 as those who had been in for a year,

“As the existing manufacturers were obliged to homologate their power units by 28 February 2014 it would seem fair and equitable to ask a new manufacturer to homologate their power unit before February 28 2015,” he wrote to the teams.

“We therefore consider this to be a requirement for a new power unit manufacturer.”

However Honda will have pointed out at their meeting on Monday some salient points to Whiting; that they are obliged to come straight in and make four engines per driver last for 20 races, whereas the others had the luxury of five engines for 19 races last year. Another consideration is that from 2015 to 2016 the number of tokens decreases from 32 to 25, so they would be disadvantaged there as well relative to the opposition, from year one or participation to year two.



That said, these were the rules to which they signed up in the first place.

Honda has several advantages accruing from coming in a year late: it has been able to avoid many of the mistakes of engine architecture made by Renault and Ferrari and it has been able to see the strengths of the benchmark engine, the Mercedes and learn from them. It also has the huge advantage of knowing what the benchmark is; the other three manufactures were shooting in the dark during 2012 and 2013 as they readied their engines for the start of the 2014 season.

Some engineers feel that the decision to allow Honda the same tokens for 2015 means that they have had a double development period in their first season, which was denied to the other three.

Others argue that it sends out all the wrong signals if a new manufacturer, attracted by the brave new world of the FIA’s hybrid turbo engine rules, has to pay expensive engineers to sit on the sidelines unable to improve the engine in its debut season.




The backtrack

This weekend a new letter has gone out to teams from Whiting’s office saying that the FIA has changed it’s mind on what is “fair and equitable” as far as Honda is concerned,

“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,” he writes.

“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).”

There are a number of factors at work here, but perhaps the most surprising one is that it has taken until now for the federation to realise that the signal it sent out with its original blow to Honda was pretty negative to other prospective new manufacturers, hardly an incentive to rush to invest in the new hybrid F1 technology.

This technology and the message it sends out is very important to FIA president Jean Todt and his team, quite rightly and it was very awkward that the return of Honda, the world’s largest engine maker, should be tinged with such a snub from the federation whose new rules had attracted the Japanese giant back in the first place.

What happens next?



Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne described the development loophole as a “victory”, but this is certainly a victory for Honda and for McLaren. If they have a good engine – and remember we still don’t know anything about its potential other than it struggled massively in testing at Abu Dhabi – then they could have a pretty strong 2015. They could certainly be a threat to Ferrari, who had a poor engine in 2014 and an average chassis.

The way F1 works, everyone needs to be seen to have a win out of a situation – Renault and Ferrari had one from the original loophole, Honda has had one here and Mercedes will be wondering what it can extract from this situation to its advantage.

All of this is coming late in the day; the new cars run for the first time in two weeks in Spain and the start of the new season is just eight weeks away. There will be build plans in process and these will need to be redrawn. But Honda’s other big advantage here is that it is only supplying one team, so it can be far more responsive than a manufacturer like Mercedes that has to bring in eight engines (two for each of its four teams) whenever it uses up fresh tokens.

Why has this been done?

Honda, which is the first new engine manufacturer to enter F1 for well over a decade, had been concerned that it was not being treated fairly.

Its senior management flew over from Japan to meet the FIA on Monday to express its concerns at the situation.

This followed the decision by the FIA to allow Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari to use their 32 development tokens over the course of the 2015 season, rather than by the originally intended approval date of 28 February.

That came after Ferrari, who had the worst engine in 2014, pointed out to the FIA that the rules did not clearly define when the modified engines for 2015 should be submitted for approval.

Whiting admitted in his note to the teams on Friday evening that that ruling left “unaddressed uncertainty” within the rules on the permitted engine development.

The FIA’s decision also takes into account the opinions of Honda’s rivals that it had an advantage inherent in entering a year late in that it knew a target to aim for, because it was aware of the performance of the rival engines in 2014.

By contrast, Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari were shooting in the dark before 2014, when the new turbo hybrid engine formula, with accompanying fuel restriction, was introduced.
What number of tokens will Honda have available?

None of the three existing manufacturers are expected to start the season with an engine that uses all 32 development tokens.

Mercedes are in the best position, but both Renault and to an even greater extent Ferrari will leave substantial leeway to make major changes to their engine architecture during the season as they are both behind where they wanted to be in terms of development.

It is unclear exactly how much Honda will be able to develop its engine, but the latest FIA ruling and the positions of its rivals mean it is likely to have a significant amount of development available.

Recap
What appeared unfair to Honda:

Its rivals could develop their engines in 2015 following the FIA's initial U-turn but it could not

It was being forced to supply only four engines to its drivers in 2015, the same as the other manufacturers, even though its rivals were allowed to supply five in their first season with their new engines in 2014

In 2016, it was being allowed to use only 25 units of development, the same restrictions on it as the other manufacturers, meaning it missed out on the 32 its rivals could use in 2015.

The FIA's decision also takes into account the opinions of Honda's rivals that it had an advantage inherent in entering a year late in that it knew a target to aim for, because it was aware of the performance of the rival engines in 2014.

By contrast, Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari were shooting in the dark before 2014, when the new turbo hybrid engine formula, with accompanying fuel restriction, was introduced.

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No fifth power unit for drivers in 2015




Formula One drivers will only be allowed to use four power units during the 2015 season, a reduction from the five permitted last year.

The rules for this year specified a decrease from five power units to four but noted “this number will be increased to five if the number of events in the championship, as originally scheduled, exceeds 20″.

A calendar approved by the FIA in 2015 featured 21 rounds after an extra race was added in South Korea. The event was then removed from a calendar issued by the FIA earlier this month.

This was suspected by some to have been done in order to satisfy the rule which would allow teams to use five power units this season.

However an FIA representative confirmed to F1 Fanatic that as the calendar is now fully confirmed as having 20 events, driver will only be permitted to use four power units during the season.

As last year, drivers will receive grid penalties if they use more than the permitted number of power unit penalties. However a change to the rules for this year means if those penalties cannot be applied in full they will not carry over to the next race, and the driver will receive a race penalty instead.