While Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen may have snatched the Formula One drivers' championship from the fingers of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in Brazil, it's important to remember that he couldn't have done it on an empty fuel tank.
It's Shell V-Power Formula One fuel that's been burning over 17 races, taking him to six wins, and seven podium finishes.
AsiaOne interviewed Lisa Lilley, technical manager for the Shell Global Solutions Team, some months back to get an idea of what it takes to push 2007 Champion Kimi Raikkonen to the top of the podium in more than a third of the season's races.
FUEL EVOLUTION
While the Shell V-Power that you get out of a regular pump in Singapore is 99 per cent the same as what Ferrari drivers Raikkonen and Massa get during a pitstop, the stuff that went into early Formula One cars wasn't quite so engine-friendly.
"Formula One fuels used to be a potent mix of chemicals like benzene, alcohol, aviation fuel and lead to increase octane levels," said the 32-year-old, who has an engineering degree and a PhD for research into combustion chemistry.
"Some of the early fuels were so destructive that the car's engine had to be 'washed' with regular fuel at the end of the day to prevent the race fuel from corroding it."
Over the years, regulations were introduced to regulate fuel composition, a move driven in part by oil companies' desire to show visible links between race and road fuels.
Current FIA fuel regulations now limit the fuel components used by teams to ensure that they are aligned with today's commercial fuels.
TWEAKING THE FORMULA
Shuttling between Shell's Global Solutions technical laboratory in England and Ferrari's Gestione Sportiva in Italy, Lilley is tasked with overseeing the planning, monitoring and delivery of fuel and lubricants for Scuderia Ferrari (Team Ferrari).
Lilley's other key role is ensuring that the findings gleaned from the Formula One programme are transferred back into development programmes for Shell's commercial products, thus allowing customers to enjoy the 'trickle-down' benefits from her track-side work.
While the everyday motorist may get the exact same version of Shell V-Power each time they fill up their tanks at the pump, the version used in each Formula One race is tailor-made by Lilley and her team for 'optimum performance'.
"(The fuel) differs from race to race as different tracks demand different performance from the Formula One car," said Lilley.
Depending on the estimated fuel consumption for each track, fuel loads, pit-stop strategy, and many other variables, the fuel to be used for each race is carefully customised and calibrated.
The mobile laboratory we visited in the Ferrari garage at Sepang had equipment that, according to Lilley, was sensitive enough to detect if "a teaspoon of sugar had been added to a lake". It's that level of cutting edge technology that keeps Kimi Raikkonen and Filipe Massa going at top speed, while playing on the right side of FIA regulations.
FUTURE FUELS
Although alternative fuels like hydrogen may not be on the map for use in Formula One, there are already moves to make the fuel-guzzling cars more environmentally-friendly.
For starters, Article 19 of FIA's fuel regulations will mandate a proportion of bio-fuel to be included in Formula One fuel from 2008.
Lilley, who has five years of experience working on alternative fuels, is confident of meeting these new challenges next year, given Shell's extensive global experience in researching and producing of bio-fuels.
"Formula One is all about expertise, state of the art technology and research that's constantly changing.
"We can't predict the shape of Formula One or the direction it takes, but as fans, we hope that its character and the exciting competition stay intact."
And in case you're wondering, no, she doesn't get her own free stash of petrol.
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FAST FACTS
- Shell and Ferrari have shared a partnership dating back over 60 years.
- Shell develops and supplies 200,000 litres of fuel and 40,000 kg of lubricant to Ferrari for Formula One testing and racing each year.
- Fuel pumps at an average Formula One pit-stop blast petrol into the car's tank at a rate of 12 litres per second.
