End of F1's token system no quick fix for Honda

The removal of the token system restricting power unit development does not provide a quick fix to Honda's recent struggles, according to the head of its F1 project.

The introduction of the V6 turbo power unit regulations in 2014 also saw a token system imposed in an attempt to keep development costs down. Teams had a limited number of tokens to spend once they had homologated their power units, with different components costing a different amount of tokens to upgrade.

The system has been scrapped for 2017, allowing power unit manufacturers more development freedom in the hope of closing the gap to Mercedes, but Honda's Yusuke Hasegawa has warned the change will not necessarily have a major impact.

"It is partly true but the token system is not the only limitation for development," Hasegawa (pictured) told RACER. "Of course time limitations are the biggest, as well as technical limitations and of course budget limitations. So tokens are not the only one – we couldn't even use all of our tokens last season and we left one token actually.

"I think [time is biggest], but it has always been so. Of course if we have plenty of time we would have a chance of catching up other teams but we can't use that as an excuse."

Having returned to F1 as engine supplier to McLaren in 2015, Honda started racing its power unit a year later than Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault, but when asked if the token system therefore had a bigger effect on the Japanese manufacturer than its rivals, Hasegawa replied: "No, I don't think so.

"Of course we had to consider how many tokens we had available to use and how to spend them, but it wasn't a big limitation other than that. Once we had decided on a direction – because of the current regulations we can't change the bank angle or the diameter of the pistons – most of the things can be fixed. Something like the combustion cost only about three tokens, so of course it is difficult to update several times with tokens but in the winter you could modify that completely."

McLaren finished ninth in the constructors' championship in 2015 as Honda struggled on its return, before improving to sixth place last season.