IOC Fuels Formula 1: A Milestone for Indian Firms

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), the nation’s top oil firm, will soon start manufacturing fuel for Formula One (F1) motor racing, becoming the first Indian company to do so. The company has already unveiled ‘Storm’, a petrol that it will supply for the Asian region motorcycle road racing championship.

IOC Chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said that the company’s research and development team will be able to produce Category-1 fuel in two months and F1 fuel in three months. “Unless we go to F1, the journey is not complete,” he said.

F1 fuel is different from regular commercial and premium petrol in terms of density, distillation, vapour pressure and olefins. It also delivers highly optimised peak performance. Vaidya said that current norms provide for 40 per cent of the F1 fuel coming from non-fossil sources, such as alcohol, algae or waste, keeping in mind the sustainability angle.

IOC will also pitch its F1 fuel to automobile makers racing in the sport. Unlike the Asian region motorcycle road racing championship, where there is one single fuel supplier for all the participants, F1 allows teams to select their own fuel supplier. For instance, Shell is the fuel supplier to Ferrari.

“This is just the beginning,” Vaidya said. ‘Storm – Ultimate Racing Fuel’ provides cleanliness of engine parts, fuel delivery system and corrosion protection to the metallic parts of vehicles. It also provides faster acceleration, more power, smoother drivability, lower engine deposits and lower exhaust emissions.

It is suitable for use in all racing championships in all classes of motorbikes requiring FIM Category 2 race fuels. F1 fuel will be a notch higher. It would fall under high octane premium road fuel with octane thresholds of 95 to 102.

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