Top Fuel / F-1

[Camprunner]

I was just wondering does anyone here know what weight oil they run in Top Fuel Dragsters? How about Formula One cars?

 

[Camprunner]

I must say I posted this and I never realized there was a place for racing oils in the Forum ..... Sorry crew!

 

[KA426]

I don't know about F-1 but I believe Fuel classes run 60 or 70 weight in order to keep the nitro from washing the oil off of the cylinder walls.

 

[Shannow]

I'd say with ridiculous RPMS, and engines that don't turn too well when cold that F-1 take a different approach.

 

[Johnny]

I'm trying to find out what weight oil Shell uses in F1 and will report back if I have any luck.

Have not been involved in NHRA in years but most top fuel and funny cars use to run 60 and 70 wt oils. The last year Eddie Hill raced he was using a special formula of Pennzoil's Performax in a 5W-50.

I think the Kalitta group are running either 60 or 70 wt Red Line in their cars.

 

[SubLGT]

I don't know what viscosity Shell provides for F1, but I did see this interesting tidbit on the Shell website;

"In 2005, Shell blended 40 tons of Formula One engine and gearbox lubricant for Ferrari. That’s equivalent to the weight of 27 small road cars."

 

[Johnny]

Interesting. That's a lot of lubricants when you figure the average weight for oil and gear oil is around 7.3 lbs per gallon.

 

[sunruh]

so roughly 11,000gal

how many oci's is that?

 

[Johnny]

Sent an email to my Shell contact and here is his reply.

From:
Date: July 24, 2008 8:35:01 AM CDT
To:
Subject: Re: Shell and F1

In the past, 10W-60. I do not know if they still use that grade but they do keep such details quiet.

--------------------------
Sent using BlackBerry


----- Original Message -----
From: Johnny Petree
To: John M SLUBE
Sent: Wed Jul 23 07:38:36 2008
Subject: Shell and F1

John,

See if you can find something out for me. What weight oil do they run
in the F1 Ferrari's.

Thanks,

JP

 

[chief]

"The last year Eddie Hill raced he was using a special formula of Pennzoil's Performax in a 5W-50".

Eddie Hill, What an icon he was. Really miss him, Ercia and that Pennzoil banana.

 

[SubLGT]

Shell did this in the F1 2005 season. Not sure if this is still being done:

" Ferrari has the option to change its engine lubricant throughout the weekend to suit strategy. Shell has developed a selection of three new engine oils for the team

Whilst the main blend is based around last year's successful Shell Helix SL0848 the team will have the option of changing to blends of higher or lower viscosity* as the weekend evolves. This is a revolutionary approach to race strategy"

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: chief

"The last year Eddie Hill raced he was using a special formula of Pennzoil's Performax in a 5W-50".

Eddie Hill, What an icon he was. Really miss him, Ercia and that Pennzoil banana.


One of the many benefits I got from working with Pennzoil was to become friends with Eddie and Ercie Hill. He still owns his Honda Motorcycle dealership in Wichita Falls, TX and I always try to stop by and pay a visit every time I go to Texas. You will never meet two finer folks than that.

 

[evoboy]

a friend of mine rebuilds F1 engines from the past upto as recently as 2003 , so right into the hyper RPM era. He uses Motul 10w40 and he says it's the only thing he will use !!
However , he knows that the teams use specifically blended oils with viscosities as low as 20w !! Thing is though , they only need the engine to survive 2 race weekends max , even now !! So it's low friction that is the issue. The osbsolete engines he rebuilds for trackday , parade and historic events need to last as long as possible though , due to the cost of rebuilds , hence the Motul 10w40 !!

 

[RedOak]

Eddie Hill was a true icon for Drag Racing. Such a good ambassador for the sport and Pennzoil. When he retired he was really at the top of his craft if my hard head is correct. Drag racing has had a tough year with the loss to the Kalitta family. I was also thinking several teams were utilizing 20W oils in F-1 for qualification and maybe something else for the race? I think Sprint Cup may qualify using 20w oils to maximize horsepower. Johnny do you have a clue what any team just not the teams that use products under the shell banner, use on race day. I read a few years ago on a Hendrick Motorsports web site they raced with 20w50. But that may have changed also. When Rousch Fennway went back to Valvoline that was a hit for Pennxoil. I believe they would have had more bang for their dollars there than at RCR. Just my opinion. A chance for more wins was what I was thinking.

 

[Turbo_777]

I have a friend that is the head of lubs for a leading fuel/oil European company and he told me certain F1 teams use 10 and 20w oils. The move to pneumatic value systems helped them move to lighter oils.

 

[Shannow]

Compressible value systems are an important part of life.

 

[Saab9-3]

Originally Posted By: evoboy
a friend of mine rebuilds F1 engines from the past upto as recently as 2003 , so right into the hyper RPM era. He uses Motul 10w40 and he says it's the only thing he will use !!
However , he knows that the teams use specifically blended oils with viscosities as low as 20w !! Thing is though , they only need the engine to survive 2 race weekends max , even now !! So it's low friction that is the issue. The osbsolete engines he rebuilds for trackday , parade and historic events need to last as long as possible though , due to the cost of rebuilds , hence the Motul 10w40 !!


Is this the 300v motul? or Motul excess 10w40 ?

 

[Lumberg]

Yep I've heard F1 uses very light straight weight oils, 10 & 20 sound right.

I've heard as low as 0w or even 00w, but I think that was before the two weekend rule (what a ridiculous rule BTW).