In the year Honda say goodbye to Formula 1, they have delivered their best ever powerplant. It's being worked on down to the smallest detail: the engine oil is also important, for example, and both Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri have recently received an upgrade, which is proving to work well for both teams.
Red Bull Racing has driven the past two Grand Prix with an improved version of the ExxonMobil oil the team uses. For this new formulation the oil manufacturer used new components, which it started experimenting with eight years ago.
Possible bigger steps for Red Bull to take throughout the season
According to ExxonMobil, the new oil works at higher temperatures and there is less deposition of oil residue. The manufacturer says this will lead to long-term benefits for Red Bull. "These are the first steps in determining to what extent we can take the oil to higher temperatures," said Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan in conversation with The Race.
He continued: "But it's also partly thanks to Honda that we can do this with an engine, that it's possible to raise the temperatures. It's situation-dependent: we can control the temperature with cooling, and we do that based on what ExxonMobil and Honda say is possible. Sometimes a little more cooling is needed, other times it can be a little warmer."
However, Monaghan says it remains to be seen to what extent the new oil will bring benefits to the team. "We're still learning right now, and the more we learn, the more benefits we can get out of it. Whether we can make bigger steps during the season we will see. It's still in the early stages, so it doesn't have a very visible effect on the car yet."