Hilo OFICIAL TEMPORADA F1 2017

[German Sanchez]

Via http://formula1.ferrari.com/en/2017-regu...-4-tokens/


29 Mar 2017

With regards to the Power Unit, the changes for 2017 are certainly not as extreme as those for the aerodynamics. The main change is not technical but rather sporting, because the hybrid formula has given up on the ‘tokens’ system.

Looking at 2014, the first year of the new engine type, it was thought to be a criteria which would stop the constructors with the most resources from gaining an advantage to the detriment of the others, creating an imbalance that would be difficult to overturn. The tokens should have served as an automatic method of achieving equilibrium because, in practice they limited the number of development changes allowed.

The criteria worked as follows: the power unit was “divided up” into 42 elements and they were allowed a certain number of tokens to spend on each area of development: for example, three for each combustion development, just one for the petrol pump.
The idea was to progressively limit, year by year, the number of tokens allowed and as a consequence, gradually flatten out the development curve. But the system immediately started to overcomplicate itself. Of the 66 tokens theoretically available, 5 were immediately by the regulations. The arrival of Honda as a fourth manufacturer in 2015, made the situation even more complicated, eschewing the original system and resulting in abolishing all the tokens from this year onwards.

In theory therefore, the constructors now have more freedom when it comes to development, but in fact they continue to have a fixed quota of Power Units. In 2017, every car will have four units available, with six fundamental elements (the V6 combustion engine, the turbo, the two electrical generators, MGU-K and MGU-H, the battery and the control unit) that make up the Power Unit. Each time this limit is exceeded, for example fitting a fifth turbo at some point in the season, a grid penalty is applied.

On the other hand, with the new system it will be possible to introduce all at once, a V6 engine with a modified combustion, a new type of supercharger or different specifications of electric motor. It is enough to respect the limit of 4 units per season, unless a team decides to take a penalty.