The
chassis, the engine, the tyres are all well known components of the F1
package, but there are other less obvious elements that play a vital
role and they are the fuel and lubricants, which in the case of Scuderia
Ferrari, are provided by its partner, Shell.
Every race track makes different demands on these items, but here in
Monaco, lubricants play a more important part than at some other
circuits, particularly for the transmission. 'In the case of both engine
and gearbox, there is always a trade off between the efficiency of the
oil and it’s protection performance,' says Shell Formula 1 technical
manager, Mike Copson. 'We are always looking at how to reduce friction
(between moving parts) because friction is the enemy of power. The shift
pattern on an F1 gearbox is very harsh as it takes around 20
milliseconds to change gear, so the driver gets through the gears
incredibly quickly and over 2000 times at Monaco. The gear oil therefore
gets a very hard time, not only through being churned around by the
gears but also because it is very hard to lubricate two surfaces rubbing
against one another which is more demanding than the type of lubrication
required in an engine. Added to that, the cars are travelling relatively
slowly at Monaco so there is less cooling and that creates the worst
possible environment for an oil, aggravated by the many changes of
direction through all the corners. So, for this race more than others,
wear protection becomes a major priority when producing the oil. If
added to that the ambient temperature is high it makes life even more
difficult.'
Shell is not just implicated in producing fuel and lubricants. 'We put a
major effort into developing hydraulic fluids which activate the
throttles on the engine and the gear shifts,' continues Copson. 'The
fluid has to provide a 'solid rod' between the control and what is
actuated. When a driver puts his foot on the throttle or changes gear,
it requires an instantaneous response. So compressibility is very
important as is cleanliness. It is a very stern test of our handling of
the fluid to retain that cleanliness. Even grease is specially made for
the car, designed to reduce friction to a minimum in parts like the
constant velocity joints on the drive shafts to reduce rolling
resistance on the road.'
Although the concept that a good fuel can be a source of power from an
engine is easy to understand the whole fuel scenario is far more
complicated, affecting not only power, but torque, driveability (of key
importance at Monaco,) fuel economy and therefore even race strategy.
The chemistry of producing the fuel is very complex, because these
elements often work against one another, as in simple terms, a powerful
fuel is not always an economical one. 'We can improve driveability out
of corners by using fuel components that are more volatile and make it
burn quicker. In terms of a fuel’s density, this is controlled by the
FIA. At the 'light' end of the density scale if you have two cars of the
same weight, but you are running a lighter fuel, then that car can have
more fuel, allowing it to go further on the race track. It is about
maximising the pit stop window, which then helps the Ferrari
strategists. As far as fuel economy is concerned, even if you have power
and driveability, these advantages are lost if economy is bad. You also
have to consider that these fuels have to work at much higher
temperatures than in a road car. The fuel is also moved about a lot,
from the original supply in drums, to the refuelling rigs in the pit
lane and finally to the car. It makes our life very difficult to ensure
it stays in conformity with the FIA sample. This is a team effort as the
condition of the fuel depends on the way Ferrari handles and stores it.'
At every race, the fuels and lubricants programme is run from the Shell
Trackside Laboratory which is incorporated into one of the Ferrari
trucks. 'On the fuel side we take about 40 samples in the course of a
weekend,' reveals Copson. 'The main reason is to check it always
conforms to the sample previously approved by the FIA and that it is
always performing to its maximum. A fuel is made up of between 200 and
250 different chemical and each one has a maximum and a minimum reading.
The sample is heated in a gas chromatography machine and that creates a
line graph. The FIA has an identical machine so it is simply a case of
overlaying the two graphs to ensure they match. The fuel could change if
it is contaminated or it could be affected by weather. The better the
analysis, the closer you can get to the FIA limits, which gives you a
better fuel, in the same way that the most accurate method of weighing
the car ensures you can run closer to the minimum weight limit.'
The oil monitoring side is slightly different. Samples are taken from
the cars throughout the weekend, even though there are very few FIA
restrictions on lubricants. While the fuel is broadly similar to pump
fuel you buy for your road car, the lubricants are much more bespoke.
'We look at the level of metal found in the oil when taken from the
gearbox or engine for example,' says Copson. 'That is compared to the
levels found at other points in the weekend and even to those from past
years at a certain track and Shell uses this data to give Ferrari a
picture of the condition of its engine, in much the same way as a doctor
can get information from a blood test.' Scuderia Ferrari’s engines
reliability is excellent with only two race engine failures in the past
four years, which is exceptional in this sport. Part of that reliability
is down to the excellent partnership with Shell.
