Interview: Ian Albiston, Project Manager-Ferrari, Shell

ZW: Firstly, with the Indian inaugural GP just around the corner, has there been any need to fine tune the fuel and lubricant mixture for Indian conditions? The Indian environment is rather dusty when compared to European circuits.

Ian: Actually we don’t need to do any special development for Indian conditions. Our lubricants are developed for extreme conditions and are put through simulations of the track well in advance. Having said that, we technically could work out separate mixtures for various circuits, however each fuel mix would have to be approved by the FIA beforehand. Also, coping with separate mixes could lead to other complications, namely the creation of a third mixture! You see, if I have two fuels approved by the FIA, however I end up finishing the first drum and then I use some from the second drum and it’s a different mix, the fuel in the car will be a combination of the first and second mixture which wouldn’t be FIA approved and this could lead to the team suffering a heavy penalty in terms of a fine or even worse, they could be disqualified from the race.

To avoid such situations, and since the fuel is regulated by the FIA, where they test the fuel before and after a race, we take no chances and use a well developed fuel for an entire season.

ZW: What are the logistics involved in transporting the fuel and lubricants to various races? 
 
Ian: Discussions for the races happen at least three months prior to the event. Each country has its own lead time and since timing is critical we have a dedicated team to handle product logistics. In the case of India, all the products for the Ferrari Team left the United Kingdom on the 30th of August due to India’s custom regulations; we had to ensure we get the fuels out ahead of time and passed through customs in order to be well in time for the race.

ZW: How much fuel does Shell produce for the Ferrari Team on an annual basis?

Ian: With 20 races in a usual season, the team usually goes through 2, 00,000 litres of fuel and anywhere between 30,000 to 40,000 litres of lubricants. This also includes fuel and lubricants sent to Maranello for testing on the engine test bed as well.

ZW: When it comes to developing the fuel and lubricants for Ferrari, when does Shell get involved in the project?
Ian: Let me put it this way; Ferrari already has us working on the fuel and lubricants for their engine scheduled for the 2014 Grand Prix races! We are about 3 years away from 2014, yet our work has already begun for an engine that hasn’t even been built yet.  
 
ZW: How big is the department at Shell that is dedicated to researching and developing products just for the Ferrari Formula One team.

Ian: We have 50 dedicated scientists who work on the products for Ferrari. Over 21,000 man hours are spend on product development. We have a very close relationship with Ferrari and we benefit from using Ferrari’s engine bed as a testing platform for our products, which incidentally trickle down into the consumer product category as well.

ZW: Speaking about the trickle down effect of Formula One Products to regular consumer products available off the shelf, just how much of Formula One technology do we find in these everyday products?

Ian: A lot actually. Just about every product starts out as a Formula One initiative. The same set of scientists who work on the Formula One products also develop the regular line of products, so in effect this helps us keep a very high standard for our regular products and offer customers the best for their vehicles that have been derived after being tested at the epitome of motor sport.