Fuel for this sport has changed many times over the years. Current F1 cars burn more fuel than they used to due to their extra weight and downforce. Drivers are allowed 110kg of fuel per race. There are currently five fuel providers in the sport. They are: Shell, Exxon/Mobil, BP Castrol, Gulf and Petronas.

Nowadays, the fuel is injected directly into the combustion chamber. It has a maximum of 15 000 rpms, but in reality it has a rev band of about 11 000.

The Fuel Itself

Formula one fuel, otherwise know as lead-free super petrol, contains over 200 ingredients which provide 100 ignitions per second. During a season more than 20 different fuel compounds are produced, each with very small differences. Teams work very closely with their fuel provider to make a formula that is ideally suited to work with their car.

Petrol is very high energy density, which means the energy per unit volume is very high. It also releases energy very quickly. Another great thing about the petrol, is that is actually pretty stable and easy to transfer. It doesn’t need to be kept at a certain temperature, which means it is not a problem for teams to transport it between races.

The fuel in the car, is actually very similar to fuel that you can get at a gas station pump it just has one major difference.  There is a limit on the content of hydrocarbon that goes into the final formula, however, there is no limit on the octane rating. Octane levels in fuel are what determine how easy it is for the fuel to combust. The lower the amount of octane, the easier it is for the fuel to combust. Formula one petrol has a very high octane rating because they want the fuel to be much more steady and predictable so as not to destroy the fragile areas surrounding the power unit.