Track to Road

Shell V-Power race fuel v Shell V-Power road fuel Shells long standing technical partnership with Scuderia Ferrari in Formula One provides Shell with an extreme yet controlled test environment to develop advanced fuels and lubricants for road users. Over 21,000 man hours are invested by Shell each year into a partnership that has seen Scuderia Ferrari achieve 10 Formula One Constructors World Championships and 12 Formula One Drivers World Championship titles. Many customers across Shells forecourts world-wide may not be aware of just how closely the Shell V-Power formulation they put in their cars matches that which powers the Scuderia Ferrari cars in Formula One. To demonstrate this, Fernando Alonso, Scuderia Ferrari Driver was invited to post a lap time of Ferraris Fiorano test track in Maranello, using Shell V-Power road fuel in his Formula One car. Cara Tredget, Shell Technology Manager for Ferrari, explained the initiative, saying 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? Were going to answer this question today by fuelling the 2009 F1 Ferrari car with Shell V-Power road fuel from a Shell service station in order to show that its really very similar to the racing fuel that we provide Scuderia Ferrari. Shells 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. 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 closely similar. 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. This observation was supported by 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 the Shell V-Power race fuel. Although there was noticeable superiority, especially in acceleration, with the race fuel over the road fuel. Fernando was still clearly delighted with the results:

I think its very exciting to be able to stop in the fuel station and know that you are refuelling with a similar fuel that the Ferrari cars are using in Formula One, he said. Its really great that through using Shell V-Power fuel, people can be very happy and content that they are putting a very special fuel in their cars. With Fernandos 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. I think the fact that the results were roughly within a second per lap of each other is an absolutely fantastic result, and a real testimony to how incredible the Shell V-Power road fuel is, concluded Cara Tredget. <Ends>
For copyright-free images and more information regarding the Shell technical partnership with Ferrari team, visit www.shell.com/motorsportmedia For more information contact: Luke Drake Shell Motorsport Media Officer PRISM t: +44 (0) 207 711 6885 m: +44 (0) 7787 152525 ldrake@prismteam.com shellmotorsportmedia@prismteam.com Stuart Humm Shell Sponsorships Manager t: +41 (0)41 769 4232 m: +41 79 7020561 stuart.humm@shell.com