Petrobras returns to F1 with McLaren

Petrobras was for a long time a partner of Williams, before leaving F1 at the end of 2016 amid a political and financial crisis that was shaking Brazil at the time.

But only a year later, the oil company announced that it would be returning to F1 because the technologies developed in the sport are an integral part of its research and development strategy, as explained by its Chief Technology Officer, Hugo Repsold: “We consider Formula 1 to be the best laboratory for testing new fuels and lubricants because of the extreme conditions to which the engines are subjected. After being pushed to their limits, the new fuels and lubricants can be used in conventional cars and be utilized by our customers in their everyday lives.”

However, the timelines for technical developments are not the same as commercial strategies. Thus, even if Petrobras will benefit from significant visibility on the team’s cars and uniforms, its products will not be ready in time for the 2018 season. They will therefore only be used starting from the 2019 season.

This season, McLaren will continue to use products supplied by Castrol, as was the case last season. This has the advantage of being the same partner as Renault, the new engine supplier for the Woking-based team. The engineers at Viry-Chatillon will therefore have to prepare for significant complexity, since in 2019 their engines will be used with products supplied by Castrol for their own team, by Exxon Mobil at Red Bull, and therefore Petrobras for McLaren.

Note that this new association of Petrobras in F1 has not been well received by everyone, notably by Lucas di Grassi, the Formula E world champion, who expressed his strong disapproval on social media: « That Petrobras, a state-owned company, sponsors an English F1 team with no link to Brazil or Brazilian drivers is ABSURD, especially as motorsports are suffering in the country and so few young talents receive help to launch their careers. My point is that as a taxpayer, I don’t want money to be spent on F1 or any other motorsport. But if you do it anyway, do it to support Brazil or Brazilians. »

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr