Engine upgrades for Montreal
The power track in Montreal seems to prompt three of the engine manufacturers to introduce upgrades to their power units. Renault has already given debut to its new-spec PU in Monaco, but it wants to equip all its drivers after it failed to produce four new PUs in time for the Monaco GP.
Bouncing back after a two seasons of struggle, Renault gave an early debut to its B-spec engine which it has worked on since the first race. The French manufacturer tried the new unit out in the post-race testing in Barcelona and deemed it to be safe and reliable enough to celebrate its first race run in the Principality of Monaco.
However, only two of the four Renault-driven cars could get the new engine as there was not enough time to manufacture the necessary parts. In Montreal both Red Bull and Renault drivers will run the same spec PU. Renault's upgrades include updates to the cylinder head and the combustion chamber only, leaving all external elements intact, and while also confirming it does not include anything like Ferrari's TJI system.
Mercedes also wants to make modifications. However, it does not intend to use any tokens as the German-Anglo manufacturer introduces upgrades on reliability grounds. It wants to cure all the small deficiencies which struck the usually impeccable Mercedes PUs in the first phase of the 2016 championship.
Honda will also modify its electronics while adding a new turbo to its engine. Combined, the update required 2 tokens, leaving 12 to be spent during the remainder of the season.
Ferrari, the hungriest token-spender so far will also introduce a new turbo, requiring 2 development tokens. The Italians want to reduce the duration of the so called de-rating process. Ferrari has had to use the second part of the long straights to store electrical energy. The electrical system could be fully charged for one timed lap in qualifying, but in races it often proved to be a problem, especially in Russia and Bahrain, but also in Spain and and China where on-track battles were complicated by the issue.
According to Italian sources the Italian marque also wants to introduce new-specification fuel developed by its long-time supplier and sponsor Shell. Sources also suggest that the team wants to introduce new components to the rear suspension in a bid to cure its qualifying tyre pressure problems.
Every manufacturer had 32 tokens to spend before the winter development. Currently Ferrari has 6, Mercedes 11, Honda 14 and Renault 21 remaining tokens for this season.
Engine tokens spent:Ferrari 28 (4 remaining)
Mercedes 21 (11 remaining)
Honda 20 (12 remaining)
Renault 11 (21 remaining)
The token system will be scrapped altogether in 2017.
