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ExxonMobil Brings Up A Century With Red Bull Racing HondaCelebrating 100 races in Jeddah with ExxonMobil.
WearebynomeanstheoldestormostvenerableteamintheFormulaOnepaddock,butRedBullRacinghasbeenaroundlongenoughformilestonestobegintoaccumulate.Manypasswithoutmentionbutthisweekwe’vegotoneworthmarking:our100thracewithExxonMobil.
Our technology partnership with ExxonMobil began in 2017, when we first took delivery of Esso Synergy race fuels and cutting-edge Mobil 1 lubricants for our TAG-Heuer branded engines.
Engineering support from ExxonMobil helped us make the transition to Honda power in 2019, delivering not just the fuels, lubes and greases to keep us running reliably, but helping us extract that final erg of performance out of our new Honda RA6–series hybrid power unit.
Since then, they’ve worked in lock-step with us and with Honda at Sakura to develop new blends to power us onwards.
Funfacts
Modern F1 is very much a sport of marginal gains and this season that’s measured not so much in tenths but the final hundredth of a second, perhaps 0.01% of lap-time that is deciding pole positions and ultimately winning races.
If we can get there with a slightly lighter fuel, or an oil that allows the engine to run just a little hotter, with slightly tighter bodywork, then that can be the difference between ultimate success and failure. That we’re winning races and scraping it out for titles is in no small part down to the vast effort put in by ExxonMobil.
So, what have we achieved together over the previous 99 races?
22Victories
Fuelled by ExxonMobil we’ve achieved 22 race victories: seven with the TAG-Heuer power unit across 2017-2018, and 15 in the Honda-powered car, which we’d like to make 16 with another win in Jeddah!
Our first ExxonMobil-fuelled victory came courtesy of Daniel Ricciardo at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, our most recent was Max’s win a couple of weeks ago in Mexico.
69PodiumFinishes
Alongside the victories, we’ve added a further 47 trophies to our haul with 21 second place finishes and 26 thirds – including seven double-podiums.
150FinishesInThePoints
Max kicked off our ExxonMobil points haul with fifth place at the 2017 Australian Grand Prix – the first race of our partnership, and Checo has the most recent, fourth in Qatar. Together, we’ve scored 2064.5 points.
23Fastestlaps
We’ve achieved this across every type of circuit. We got off to a slow start and didn’t go purple until the 2017 Italian Grand Prix with Daniel Ricciardo, but the floodgates opened at that point. This season so far, we’ve had seven, including the last two races, with Max taking the honours in Qatar.
Circa2000FuelSamples,5500OilSamplesAnalysedAtTheExxonMobilTracklab
Tucked away in the back of the garage, you’ll find a small but suspiciously well-equipped portable laboratory, where our ExxonMobil fuel techs are to be found piloting their gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer. They’re constantly analysing the fuel in the bowsers and the drums, ensuring it is free from contamination and matches the ‘fingerprint’ homologated with the FIA.
The oil samples they take after every session, are the first line of defence in keeping the car healthy, spotting the first tell-tale signs of excessive wear or, conversely, providing the green light by saying the engine and gearbox are good to go.
They’re also the tip of the iceberg for the vast research project that underpins the development of new fuels and lubricants. This season alone, ExxonMobil has developed several different upgrades to help Red Bull Racing Honda deliver performance and reliability.
Examples include the new Esso Synergy Race Fuel and Mobil 1 RB16B Engine Oil, which in collaboration with Milton Keynes and Honda Research and Development, helps to deliver maximum power and protection without compromising fuel efficiency.
This process, of course, is nothing new for ExxonMobil: Esso fuels and Mobil lubricants have been used in F1 since the first race of the first World Championship, back in 1950, and have been used in too many race- and championship-winning cars to count. And we’re going to be relying on that expertise in the years ahead as Red Bull Powertrains fires up for the next stage of our F1 adventure.
Speaking about this landmark occasion, Red Bull Racing Honda CEO and Team Principal, Christian Horner said:
Christian Horner
Quote icon"The position we are in this season, fighting for both world championships, is the result of persistent hard work and dedication, not only from members of the Team but also partners like ExxonMobil. Reaching the milestone of 100 races together is a true celebration of the collaborative work we’ve done in partnership and I, together with the rest of the Team, look forward to the next 100."Christian Horner Signature
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