Ferrari and Honda have both spent engine performance tokens ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
In order to control costs, performance updates to power units are limited by a token system each season. Ferrari and Honda are the first two teams to make use of a loophole in the regulations that allows tokens to be spent during the season, with Ferrari spending three of their remaining tokens and Honda two.
Ferrari has been targeting an engine upgrade in Canada for some time and it is rumoured to offer as much as 20bhp - a significant amount in the tight battle with Mercedes. Ferrari has now spent 25 of its 32 tokens for the year, which brings its token spend on equal terms with Mercedes, which spent 25 ahead of the first race.
The exact details of Ferrari's engine upgrades have not been released, but speaking earlier in the season technical director James Allison explained the potential three tokens could unlock.
"You need to make sure you can get horsepower from spending those tokens, but three is an important number even if it doesn't sound like a lot," he said. "Three buys you a combustion upgrade and a combustion upgrade is quite significant - it could be pistons, cams, injectors, cylinder heads - so it's like a top end of the engine. A three token difference is a useful difference."
Because Honda is a new manufacturer this year, its development was not restricted by token spend until its power unit was homologated on February 28. It was then given nine tokens to spend, which was the average of the remaining tokens of its three competitors. Its spend of two tokens ahead of Canada means it also has seven tokens remaining for the rest of the year.
Renault now has the most tokens remaining after spending just 20 tokens ahead of the start of the season. However, the French manufacturer is focusing on rectifying its reliability issues before it starts chasing performance.