What Does the Formula 1 Engine Freeze Loophole Mean for McLaren and Honda?
The Formula One in-season engine development freeze is no more—at least for the 2014 engine manufacturers: Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes.
Autosport's Jonathan Noble is reporting that the FIA, the sport's governing body, has agreed that a loophole in the wording of the regulations means engine suppliers will be allowed to continue development of their engines throughout the 2015 season. Originally, the engine specs were supposed to be frozen before the season started, as was the case in 2014.
In an interesting twist, though, Noble wrote that the loophole will not apply to Honda. The company is returning to the sport for the first time since 2008 as McLaren's engine supplier.
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This development lends a new significance to McLaren racing director Eric Boullier's recent comments regarding the engine freeze. According to ESPN F1, Boullier said, "Within the regulations I think engines should be frozen once every manufacturer has been able to develop their engines. If you disallow the competition, then this goes against the spirit of the sport."
While Ferrari and Red Bull (the de facto Renault works team) have been calling for an engine unfreeze for months, McLaren only voiced their concerns in the last week.
The timing coincides with Noble's report that, "In a note that was sent from the FIA's Charlie Whiting to all teams over the Christmas period, it was made clear that the upgrades would be allowed to come on tap at any point over 2015."
Honda were always set to be at a disadvantage in 2015, rejoining the sport one year after the new V6 hybrid engine regulations came into force. Lacking a season's worth of on-track experience and data compared to their rivals, the Japanese company would have been playing catch-up from the start of preseason testing.
With the revelation that Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes will be allowed to bring developments during the season, though, Honda and McLaren's task may have gone from difficult to impossible.
Consider this: In 2014, McLaren used the Mercedes PU106A Hybrid engine, by far the best power unit on the grid. Still, the Woking-based team finished fifth in the constructors' standings and were nearly caught by Force India, another Mercedes customer with a fraction of McLaren's budget.
For 2015, McLaren will use an engine that is almost certainly less powerful and less reliable...and to top it off, the other three engine manufacturers will be allowed to improve their units as the season progresses, while McLaren are stuck with whatever Honda delivers by the end of February.
So what can do McLaren do?
Boullier's statement is likely just the first trickle in what will become a steady stream from McLaren pushing to have the engine development loophole apply to Honda, as well.
Unfortunately for McLaren, they will be a lone voice. While Ferrari and Renault could count on their customers to support a change to the engine regulations—accounting for four of the nine teams expected to be on the grid at the first race of 2015—McLaren are the only team using Honda engines, at least for next season.
And it would not benefit any of the other teams to allow Honda to continue development of their power unit throughout the season.
If it turns out that the Honda engine is indeed frozen at the end of February (and probably even if it is not), McLaren look set for their third straight winless season, despite the addition of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso to their driver line-up.
The last such fallow period in Woking was from 1994 to 1996, after Ayrton Senna left the team for Williams. But at least they scored 16 podium finishes in those three years. McLaren have exactly two since Lewis Hamilton left for Mercedes at the end of 2012.
Jenson Button, who will partner Alonso in 2015, had an encouraging finish to 2014, posting four top-five results in the last five grands prix. Still, if the team comes into the new season with one hand essentially tied behind their back, it will be very difficult to take the fight to their rivals.
There are still two months before Honda's engine is to be frozen and another two weeks after that before the season starts. Expect that time to be filled with campaigning—perhaps in public, certainly behind the scenes—by McLaren and Honda to be allowed to exploit the same loophole as the other teams.
The FIA, meanwhile, is in a tough position. It will look unfair if only Honda are held back from developing their engine, but there will also be pressure from the other eight teams to stick with the original ruling.
Either way, there will be controversy. And while that is something F1 does not necessarily need, it is also something it can't seem to live without.
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