Indian Oil aiming for F1 fuel supply deal

Indian Oil Corp is working on producing fuel for Formula 1. The company was recently announced as the official fuel supplier for the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC), with the deal running from 2024 to 2026. And it is now eyeing a supply deal in the pinnacle of motorsport: “We expect to manufacture fuel for Formula 1 cars and obtain the required certifications within three months,” said Indian Oil chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya.

1. Indian Oil official fuel supplier for the ARRC
2. F1 fuel will be manufactured at Paradip refinery

Unlike the ARRC where one company supplies fuel for the entire grid, F1 allows teams to pick their own suppliers. This means the fuel is specifically formulated for each team, and Indian Oil is now looking to compete with giants like Shell, Petronas and ExxonMobil for a fuel supply contract, Vaidya told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Delhi.

Vaidya added that Indian Oil’s F1 fuel will have an octane rating of more than 95 and it will be manufactured at the company’s Paradip refinery in Odisha.

F1 switching to fully sustainable fuel

F1 currently uses E10 fuel, which is a mixture of 90 percent fossil fuel and 10 percent sustainable ethanol. However, the championship has some big changes in store, with plans to switch to 100 percent sustainable fuel in 2026 when the new engine rules come into place.

The new fuel will have to be generated using non-food biomass or even through carbon capture by drawing CO2 from the atmosphere. This means that no new fossil carbon will be burned, and you can head here to learn more about how this tech could help make internal combustion engines greener.

With inputs from Kiran Murali

Also see:     

7 things to know about F1’s new engine rules

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