Ferrari and Shell make the trip to Canada

“Once again we have to work to deliver a fuel for Ferrari, but we have a compromise to deal with,” says Tobias Tasche, Shell’s Trackside Manger. “We want to deliver Ferrari the most powerful fuel possible to make up time on the long straights but at the same time, the most powerful blend of fuel generally burns quickly. This is something we do not want at Canada, a track with quite a high fuel consumption, so we look to provide an economical fuel too.”

Such is the expertise of the teams now at defining race set-up, the deciding factor in the race is often the pit stop strategy. Shell steps to the fore here once again by offering Ferrari the most malleable fuel possible, giving Ferrari many number of options on its strategy for the race.

“Because Montreal is a big power circuit with a combination of high speed straights and tight corners, fuel consumption is a big issue here and Shell’s advice on pit stop strategy and fuel consumption is vital for this race” says Tasche.

It is not only the Shell engineers who face difficult decisions in Canada, Ferrari have to work hard too on the aerodynamics of the car.

The optimum set-up for the cars to run quickly is with very little front and rear downforce. The lower the angle of the wings on the front and rear of the cars the less drag the car has through the air and the quicker it is. However, without the force of the air over the wings, the car becomes unstable in the corners. Engineers and drivers need to work throughout the weekend to find a suitable compromise to make the car stable and quick.

For the teams, Canada is a stern test of the car’s brakes. The drivers will have to scrub off around 200 kph in a few metres four times in each lap and in the course of a 70-lap race that is hard braking 240 times in less than two hours. This is a phenomenal task and particular attention is paid to the life and condition of the brakes during the race.

Just as the brakes are important, so is the acceleration and straight-line speed of the cars, and the cars will be topping 320 kph several times a lap.