Sainz emphasizes the “seamless” value of the important Ferrari support act

One of the most unspectacular supporting roles in Formula 1 is working as a fuel supplier for a particular team.

For Scuderia Ferrari, a remarkable 70-year partnership with Shell is a milestone during which 16 constructors’ championships and 15 drivers’ titles have been won.

The technical alliance has evolved seamlessly over time, driving technological advances in Formula 1.

In his three and a half years with the Scuderia, Carlos Sainz has learned the value of a reliable fuel partner.

“Today you can see this even more clearly in Formula 1 – every detail counts, every tenth of a second counts for Shell, which always offers maximum support on the track with its track laboratory that comes to every race. Two to three Shell engineers take an oil and fuel sample after every single run we do on the track,” Sainz said in an interview with RacingNews365.

“So when we do four runs in FP1, they take a sample after each one to analyse, optimise and give their results to the engineers.”

“This strong collaboration, this strong partnership, ultimately brings lap times and you can say that it has been useful over the last four years that I have been here.”

Sainz praises Shell’s “amazing” work

The laboratory mentioned by Sainz is Shell’s trackside laboratory in the Scuderia Ferrari HP pit garage. Its immaculate condition underlines the sensitivity of the work carried out there, as there cannot be the slightest contamination of the samples.

Sainz admitted that when he arrived at Ferrari and learned of Shell’s crucial role, one of the shocking statistics he was told was that the oil giant spends 21,000 man-hours developing fuels and oil products for the team.

“The fact that they put so much work into the fuel and oil that we have at the track and how much they pay attention to the details to get the best out of every circuit and in every condition is incredible,” said Sainz.

“In Formula 1 there are so many different conditions, like the heat of Miami and the altitudes of Austria, Mexico and São Paulo, and it requires a lot of understanding and a lot of experience.

“This is where Shell and Ferrari’s 70 years of experience are so important. You can see that they have been working together for a long time.”

This means that the work carried out behind the closed doors of the track laboratory is critical to the operation of the cars.

Although Sainz is obviously aware of his importance, his integration into the Scuderia Ferrari HP box goes almost unnoticed. But that doesn’t mean he’s blind to what goes on behind the scenes.

“As a driver, you give feedback after every session on how the engine feels, how well it drives and whether there are any problems,” said Sainz. “Of course, the engineers take notes.”

“Nowadays everything runs smoothly. We do so many races that we can rarely give concrete feedback.

“But with this support, everything runs very smoothly and easily. And the fact that you can always rely on these two or three Shell engineers and their lab on every track makes things easier and easier.”