McLaren boss Eric Boullier has welcomed the F1 Strategy Group’s decision to grant Honda an extra “free” fifth engine for 2015.
The rule change has been brought in on the basis that it applies to all future new entrants in their first seasons, and it has been applied retrospectively to Honda “for the sake of fairness,” according to the FIA.
Last year all drivers had five engines, and the figure was reduced to four on the basis that the manufacturers had gained a year of experience and thus reliability was improved.
While the McLaren drivers are already on their fifth or even sixth engine elements, the next ones can be taken without penalty.
“I’m happy that the F1 community has been giving a gesture of goodwill,” Boullier told this writer. “The problem was there was never any process about if somebody wanted to enter the sport after January 1 2014.”
The move is also a bonus for the likes of VW/Audi, who might be discouraged from entering by the sort of problems that Honda has experienced.
“Obviously F1 needs people to come from outside. It was a good Strategy Group meeting, there was a lot of positive discussion. There is more to come actually, which we can’t make public now, but it’s good. F1 needs to think not only about ourselves, but about the world.”
Adam Cooper's F1 Blog 