Scuderia Ferrari has emerged as the biggest spender of engine development tokens over the winter ahead of the 2016 Formula 1 season that starts this weekend at the Albert Park circuit in Australia.
The four manufacturers, Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Honda, have a total of 32 tokens to use before the end of the season to develop their hybrid systems. Introduced for this season, Formula 1 teams are now allowed to develop areas of the engine that were previously closed off, following the struggle to catch the double world-champions Mercedes.
The FIA confirmed on Thursday that Ferrari have already spent twenty-three tokens since the end of the 2015 season, leaving the Maranello team only nine more for the rest of the championship. Mercedes and Honda have spent more than half of their tokens, while Renault have only spent seven, potentially allowing the Enstone-based outfit to make the most gains during this season, proving how much they are focused on delivering developments later in the season.
Both Renault and Honda will be looking for vast improvements in 2016 after seeing their 2015 season blighted by unreliability and being uncompetitive.
Engine tokens spent
Ferrari 23 (9 remaining)
Mercedes 19 (13 remaining)
Honda 18 (14 remaining)
Renault 7 (25 remaining)
