misschien leuke info, zojuist van het intranet van mn werk gehaald (werk zelf op Shell raffinaderij)
Can a Formula One car run on road car fuel?
Shell’s technical partnership with Ferrari is one of the longest and strongest in the Formula One paddock with over 60 years of innovation and shared passion for performance. The technical partnership is key to developing better road fuels for our customers – from track to road.
In fact, the FIA regulations stipulate that Formula One race fuels must be composed of compounds normally found in commercial fuels, meaning that Shell V-Power race fuel and Shell V-Power road fuel are by definition very similar.
Despite that, many customers on Shell forecourts around the world may not be aware of just how closely the Shell V-Power formulation they put in their cars actually matches the one powering Scuderia Ferrari cars in Formula One.
Cara Tredget, Shell Technology Manager for Ferrari, says, “One of the things I always get asked is, ‘How similar is the Shell V-Power racing fuel that we deliver to Ferrari to that of the Shell V-Power Unleaded fuel that everyday motorists use?’
“We decided to answer that question by fuelling the 2009 F1 Ferrari car with Shell V-Power road fuel from a Shell service station in order to show that it’s really very similar to the racing fuel that we provide Scuderia Ferrari.”
To demonstrate it, Fernando Alonso, official Scuderia Ferrari driver was invited to post a lap time of Ferrari’s Fiorano test track in Maranello, using Shell V-Power road fuel in his Formula One car. The run also was filmed by the BBC.
Having driven four intense laps of Fiorano using his familiar Shell V-Power race fuel, setting a fastest lap time of 1:03.950, Fernando then returned to experience how the Shell V-Power road fuel fared with the extreme demands of his 2009 F1 Ferrari race car. He was somewhat surprised by the results, saying: “The Shell V-Power road fuel felt just as quick as the Formula One fuel.”
What supported his observation was the fact that the road fuel, formulated with unique Shell technology, actually managed to produce a higher top speed at the end of the straight when compared to Shell V-Power race fuel. The race fuel pulled off a noticeably better performance.
With Fernando’s lap time on Shell V-Power road fuel registering at 1:04.850 in the telemetry readings, the difference between the two fuels was only nine tenths of a second.