McLaren has been given "a boost after Formula One's governing body tweaked the rules to allow Honda, the team's new partner, to develop their engine this season in line with rival manufacturers," according to Alan Baldwin of REUTERS. Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari "are allowed to introduce limited upgrades during the season but Honda, as a new entrant, had been told to present their engine for approval on Feb. 28 with no further development permitted."
Honda met FIA officials last Monday "to present their view that the situation was unfair."
A document issued to teams on Friday by F1 Race Dir Charlie Whiting that was confirmed by the FIA "did not name Honda but clarified the situation with an amendment in their favour" (REUTERS, 1/17). The BBC's Andrew Benson reported Friday's ruling "will allow Honda to change a given amount of its engine calculated by the average of the number of tokens unused by the other manufacturers by the time of the first race in Australia" on March 16. 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 '14 (BBC, 1/16).
