[Team] Scuderia Toro Rosso: Now with HONDA

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by F1Guy

RBR and STR have been using Mobile products this year. The only Renault powered teams to do so. The factory Renault team has been using BP/Castrol as of the start of the 2017 season.

Mobile ended it's partnership with McLaren for this year and linked up with RBR. Honda then linked up with BP/Castrol for 2017. Honda and BP/Castrol already have had commercial partnerships in other racing series such as WRC and WTCC.

In 2018 McLaren will stay with BP/Castrol, and be Renault powered. So this ties in with the factory Renault team which will also be using BP/Castrol. Leaving RBR the only Renault powered team not using BP/Castrol. Staying with Mobile instead. STR will also be staying with Mobile, but will be Honda powered. A request was made by RedBull for Honda to switch to Mobile for 2018. Honda agreed to the switch. Mobile were not so willing. One reason for the Mobile and McLaren split was because of McLaren's poor performances with the Honda engines.

Next year, Mobile will have two different engines (Honda and Renault) to develop specific fuels for. Not an easy task, as BP/Castrol found out this year having to develop fuels for both the Honda and Renault engines themselves. Mobile only had the one engine (Renault in the RBR and STR cars) for 2017, but will now have to work with two engine brands for 2018.

Shell will be supplying Ferrari, Sauber and Haas in 2018. All powered by Ferrari. Mercedes, Williams and Force India will be using Petronas with the Mercedes engines. BP/Castrol, Shell and Petronas all have just the one engine to concentrate on. Mobile on the other hand, will have a bigger workload in 2018.

Is there much room for development and deviation in the fuel though?
The Technical Regulations regarding fuel are fairly constringent and allow little room for variation - and the onus should be on the engine designers to produce an ICE that performs within the fuel parameters.

The lubricants though are an area that will pose a big challenge if working on two different units. It will be interesting to see if Mobil are singled out for criticism if their is a significant difference in performance between the units.

NB: I'm one of those that believe in supporting the companies that support my interests. Mobil have supported / supplied F1 for a number of years now so it would be good to recognise the correct spelling of their brand.