Shell V-Power race fuel and Shell Helix Ultra race lubricant delivered 23.3% of the total efficiency gain of Scuderia Ferrari’s power unit since the end of the 2014 season. This means Scuderia Ferrari can go over half a second a lap faster with the same amount of fuel.
Shell Motorsport Innovation Manager Guy Lovett explains what this means: “Efficiency is crucial for us in motorsport, where performance improvements are primarily found through exploiting efficiency, due to the fuel limit, so we can only go faster by getting more out of each drop of fuel.
“At Shell, we work tirelessly with Scuderia Ferrari designers and engineers over the winter and during each season, with 21,000 hours devoted to the Formula 1 products alone. The scale of the efficiency benefits we have delivered since the end of 2014 is a testament to all the team at Shell, and truly demonstrates the benefits of our Innovation Partnership with Scuderia Ferrari in practice. Ultimately, we strive to bring improvements from the intense testing environment of the racetrack to help develop the best fuel and lubricants for drivers on the road.”
The 2017 Formula 1 cars require more power due to ‘draggier’ designs and because drivers spend longer at full throttle, efficiency is now more important than ever. Shell must deliver maximum performance to Scuderia Ferrari from the fuel as well as lubricating the engine, to enable the cars and drivers to perform at their peak in each race of the season. Such gains in efficiency have already helped power Scuderia Ferrari to four race wins and eight further podium places in the first half of the 2017 season.
Scuderia Ferrari Driver and current series leader Sebastian Vettel said: “Our performance so far this season relies on all parts of the puzzle working together, and of course the fuels and lubricants from Shell are playing their part – stats like this show how their expertise contributes to give us an advantage on the track.
Mattia Binotto, Technical Director, Scuderia Ferrari said: “It’s really impressive that Shell fuels and lubricants delivered nearly a quarter of the overall efficiency gain of our power unit since the end of 2014, and our thanks go to Shell for delivering such an improvement. To achieve ever increasing standards of performance out of the same amounts of Shell V-Power race fuel is remarkable, and this combined with the benefits of Shell Helix Ultra race lubricants in the engine, is an important factor contributing to Scuderia Ferrari’s on-track results.”
