Why fuel is so important in 2010 (Video)
5th March 2010, 23:44 by Keith Collantine 58 Comments »
The video above supplied by Shell and Ferrari does a good job of explaining the extra importance fuel technology will play in 2010.
The ban on refuelling means the teams now have to carry an entire load of fuel with them for a race. Fuel companies like Shell can help F1 teams get a performance advantage by producing fuel which is used more efficiently, meaning the cars can carry less of it, saving weight.
Some of the other implications of the refuelling ban are less obvious. As the video explains, keeping fuel temperature under control is especially important. Last year when cars took on fuel at pit stops it would be at a lower temperature than the fuel already in the car, helping to keep temperatures down.
This year the teams won’t have that benefit, and the fuel suppliers have had to compensate by changing the formula that goes into the tanks.
See the video for more – it features interviews with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa and is narrated by James Allen.
NB. I have uploaded the video at higher quality than usual – please let me know if you experience playback problems.
Zazeems said on 6th March 2010, 0:04
Wow, staying up late posting articles Keith!
Rits said on 6th March 2010, 0:15
James Allen… tht did it for me really! Can’t stand him!
Pat said on 6th March 2010, 8:50
Easy ! – Your entitled to your opinion I know – & I must admit I shared yours for a
but I have changed my opinion towards him – Along with this site his site http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/ is one of the most informative on the web and like Keith he takes time to respond to some of the more thought out questions posted on it by his readers – his Twitter pages are good too as are Keith’s 
- Without them the world of F1 on the web would be a duller place !
while too – but I think I formed it a little too hastily and just wasn’t used to not hearing Murray !
Selidor said on 6th March 2010, 10:10
Cant agree more!
Took about 15 seconds to buffer to 6%, started playing and promptly paused at 10%, though after that it was played smoothly. My laptop’s mediocre, though my connection is a savvy 12mb/s.
Fullscreen, the quality was DVD-like, but I never play 4 minute films about petrol that way – and I doubt many others do (with the exception of Bart!) – so much of the extra clarity isn’t noticed really.
Save it for the special videos Keith!
Mike said on 6th March 2010, 14:45
I’ll admit his website is great, but, he irritates me in races, It’s not a lack of Murray, he just isn’t very insightful,
I just find that I am yelling explanations for what the teams are doing at him, rather than him yelling them at me….
This annoys me.
Actually I end up yelling at him alot, which might make me appear mad, you know, yelling at the tv. Oo
I should also add that I didn’t actually see the clip, being on a fairly slow connection in Australia, It took about one and a half minutes to get to 5%…
lukeaa said on 6th March 2010, 0:20
Great quality video, very jumpy on my netbook and seemed to take a long time too load. Probably about time to upgrade the laptop!
Great to hear JA again, good voice when not screaming about hamilton
Ned Flanders said on 6th March 2010, 0:41
Is it just me or does the guy at 16 seconds look and sound a bit like Jarno Trulli?!
The first minute of this video is just Shell marketing publicocrap. The second half was quite interesting though
spawinte said on 6th March 2010, 1:21
Are you hosting that video yourself Keith? Flashgot is showing it as 231mb which is pretty huge for a blog post. If even only a few thousand people view that it will be 1TB of your bandwidth gone.
George said on 6th March 2010, 3:05
Wow, sometimes I forget some of the most technical aspects of F1 (fuel/brakes etc) are outsourced, and it’s not just a sticker on the side of the car.
manatcna said on 6th March 2010, 3:41
Afraid my “Broadband” just isn’t up to it
BNK Racing said on 6th March 2010, 3:48
it took a while to download n even then it moved in frames…..my lappy isnt the best with videos, but this wasn’t watch-able from my point of view. guess i’ll check it at work on monday!
sato113 said on 6th March 2010, 4:31
are you sure that’s james allen?
Christopher said on 6th March 2010, 13:15
Yeah, I wasn’t convinced it was him at all.
GerardP said on 6th March 2010, 4:53
Video worked great for me. Maybe because it is 5:00am UK time (9:00pm PST for me), so not many others trying to access it at the same time?
I have to admit that I was not aware that teams had their own fuel providers.
Do all teams have partnerships like Ferrari-Shell? Is Shell used only for the Ferrari team, or also by the Ferrari engine customers teams?
How many Fuel partnership are there in F1?
FXX said on 6th March 2010, 5:31
Ya most of them have Mclaren has Mobile, maybe others have Pertonas. There will be some suppliers.
FXX said on 6th March 2010, 4:59
Can’t watch the video it taking too much time.
Vincent said on 6th March 2010, 6:40
Don’t know if Total supply Renault’s.
Calum said on 6th March 2010, 10:38
I think Renault is ELF, which is actually owned by TOTAL.
pawelf1 said on 6th March 2010, 6:55
Keith you need to add a switch to choose quality of this Video because my connection is just to slow
The Nude Wizard said on 6th March 2010, 6:57
waited 10 minutes,it was still at 6%
found it on youtube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh8fD2F4QvE
HounslowBusGarage said on 6th March 2010, 8:13
The You Tube version is only 14,5 Mb and the quality seems fine. Maybe they use a different type of compression.
Interesting video.
FXX said on 6th March 2010, 12:11
what is it called on the youtube?