Red Bull, Mercedes: The Fuel War
In this new era of Formula 1, the focus is on fuel economy. With a fuel limit of 100 kilograms per race, teams must extract maximum performance. This is where oil companies come in to make the 'blood' of the cars as efficient as possible.
According to the German site Auto Motor und Sport, the latest formulation developed by the oil company Total, the partner of the Renault-powered teams, reportedly added 12 horsepower to Red Bull during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, with more to come.
Interviewed by journalist Michael Schmidt, it was Red Bull’s large expenditures that enabled the team to get the new fuel approved for use starting from the Spanish Grand Prix.
According to Michael Schmidt, regarding Mercedes, Christian Horner thinks they have an advantage of 20 horsepower over McLaren due to the fuel developed by Petronas.
The team from Woking, for its part, uses a Mobil 1 fuel blend, while all other Mercedes customer teams use Petronas fuel.
On his side, Rob White, Deputy Managing Director of Renault Sport F1, states: « With turbo engines, fuel suppliers started from scratch, which explains the great strides in performance we are witnessing at the start. »
At Ferrari too, they are concerned about the importance of fuel in 2014, and President di Montezemolo has strongly recommended that his team collaborate more closely with their partner Shell.
Among the teams powered by Renault, only Red Bull has benefited from the new “12 extra horsepower” fuel provided by Total. The other Renault customer teams will only be able to enjoy it starting next weekend in Monaco.
Red Bull stated that they were 6 km/h slower than Mercedes in a straight line in Barcelona, with a speed of 328.8 km/h. This shortfall in top-speed performance does not discourage the four-time world champion team. Indeed, its director Christian Horner asserts: « If we can reduce our engine deficit by 50%, we can beat Mercedes. »
