Shell's Innovation Partnership with Scuderia Ferrari is one of the longest and most succesful in motorsport. Learn about its history, peek behind the pit lane and see how the extreme conditions of Formula 1® help develop products for your car.
Shell’s Track Lab team is trackside for every race, sampling and testing the fuels and lubricants throughout the race weekend. The adrenalin flows trackside as we help power the team to success.
Since 1947, when the first Ferrari road car rolled out the gates of Maranello filled with Shell fuels and lubricants, every vehicle produced in the famed factory has been powered and protected by Shell.
The Shell Innovation Partnership with Ferrari is today, one of the most respected and recognised in the world of motoring, and one of the most decorated and celebrated in the world of motorsport.
1930s Where it all began - A personal relationship
Shell’s technical partnership with Scuderia Ferrari dates back to the time when Enzo Ferrari started racing for Alfa Romeo. Within five years of being made an official Alfa Romeo driver in 1924, Enzo went on to found the Scuderia Ferrari on Viale Trento Trieste in Modena, which assisted mostly gentlemen drivers in racing their cars. In 1938, Enzo Ferrari was appointed head of Alfa Corse but quit the position in 1939 to set up his own company, Auto Avio Costruzioni, which operated out of the old Scuderia buildings.
1947 Ferrari and the prancing horse
The legendary symbol used by Ferrari has heroic origins. It was first adopted as a personal emblem by a highly decorated Italian World War I pilot, Francesco Baracca, who had it painted on the fuselage of his aircraft. At the end of the war, Baracca’s parents invited Enzo Ferrari to use the Cavallino Rampante (Prancing Horse) symbol. Enzo adopted it as the logo for his racing Scuderia, placing it on a yellow shield in honour of his hometown Modena and topping it with the Italian tricolour. The classic Ferrari red, however, was simply the colour assigned by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) to Italian Grand Prix cars in the early years of the last century. The Prancing Horse symbol made its debut at the 1932 Spa 24 Hours.
1950Competition on the world stage
Scuderia Ferrari took part in the inaugural Formula 1® World Championship season with the support of Shell. The championship consisted of six Grand Prix races, held in Europe and open to Formula 1® cars, plus the Indianapolis 500, which was run to AAA National Championship regulations. Giuseppe Farina of Alfa Romeo won the title. Scuderia Ferrari was just getting started.
1951 Ferrari’s first Formula 1® win
By developing a normally aspirated 4.5 litre engine, the Scuderia Ferrari used significantly less fuel than its super-charged rivals and worked efficiently with fuel specially mixed by Shell. The result was Scuderia Ferrari’s first ever Formula 1® victory at Silverstone. Driving was José Froilan Gonzalez, the feted hero whose reward for victory was an audience with the Queen. Formula 1®
1952 World championships
Alberto Ascari became the first driver to win a World Championship with Scuderia Ferrari in 1952. The first of many. The 1953 Shell-powered 500 F2 proved itself to be the best car in the field, with Ascari’s five wins bringing the Drivers’ Title home once more, as Scuderia Ferrari completed a winning streak of 14 consecutive victories over two seasons – a record that remains in tact today, excluding two editions of the Indianapolis 500.
1964 Surtees completes the set
Ex motorcycle racer John Surtees wins the Formula 1® World Championship and becomes the first racer to win world titles on two and four wheels. John Surtees finished second in the Mexico Grand Prix which gave him the Drivers’ Championship by one point from Graham Hill. Scuderia Ferrari also won the Constructors’ title.
1996 Back together again
After the hiatus of the 70s and 80s Shell resumed its technical partnership with Scuderia Ferrari - and the results were better than ever. The Team made the most of lighter and highly combustible fuels and, with the great Michael Schumacher behind the wheel, success was just around the corner.
2000 Champions again
Michael Schumacher became Scuderia Ferrari's first World Drivers’ Champion for 21 years having clinched the Drivers' Title at the penultimate race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix. Scuderia Ferrari successfully defended their Constructors' title. This was a truly defining day in Shell’s history with the team proud to be part of Scuderia Ferrari’s latest triumph.
2004 Records continue to tumble
Not for the first time the Drivers’ Championship was dominated by Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari. The German driver won the Drivers’ Championship for the fifth consecutive year and the Italian company took the Constructors’ Championship for the sixth straight season.
2007 Kimi finishes first
Kimi Räikkönen won The Drivers' Championship by one point at the final race of the season, making him the third Finnish driver to take the title. Räikkönen entered the final race in third position in the drivers' standings, but emerged as Champion after the chequered flag, a feat first accomplished by Giuseppe Farina in 1950 and later matched by Alain Prost in 1986.
2012 500 not out
Shell’s technical partnership with Scuderia Ferrari reached a new milestone in 2012. At the Singapore Grand Prix the teams celebrated 500 Formula 1® races together – an incredible achievement marked with a specially designed ‘Shell 500 Races’ logo on the rear wing of the F2012.
2015 Innovation Partnership
Shell fuels and lubricants delivered an unprecedented 25% of total performance gain to the Scuderia Ferrari power unit as the two companies extended their relationship to an Innovation Partnership which sees Shell continue to power Scuderia Ferrari’s teams in Formula 1® and beyond, and Scuderia Ferrari support Shell’s global Eco-marathon programme.
2017 Significant Efficiency Gains for Scuderia Ferrari in F1
Shell was proud to announce that its Shell V-Power race fuel and Shell Helix Ultra race lubricant delivered 23.3% of the total efficiency gain of Scuderia Ferrari’s power unit from the end of the 2014 season. This enabled the Scuderia Ferrari cars to go over half a second a lap faster with the same amount of fuel.
Learn how we use Scuderia Ferrari’s Formula 1® cars as the ultimate test bed to develop products that boost your engine’s performance.
Shell invests over 21,000 man hours per year to support Scuderia Ferrari in Formula 1® , with over 50 technical staff involved in supporting the Formula 1® programme.
To date, Shell has powered Scuderia Ferrari to ten FIA Formula 1® Constructors’ titles and 12 Drivers’ Championship wins.
Each bespoke formulation of Shell V-Power race fuel blended for Scuderia Ferrari can contain over 200 different compounds.
Formula 1® engines can run in excess of 1,000 degrees Celsius. It is the job of Shell Helix Ultra race lubricant to protect Scuderia Ferrari’s engines, even in these punishing conditions.
All bespoke blends of Shell V-Power race fuel used by Scuderia Ferrari contain at least 5.75% of bio-components by weight.
The Shell V-Power race fuel used by Scuderia Ferrari contains 99% of the same types of compounds as found in Shell V-Power Unleaded road fuels available to customers worldwide.
In 2017, Shell was proud to announce that its shell V-Power race fuel and Shell Helix Ultra race lubricant delivered 23.3% of the total efficiency gain of Scuderia Ferrari’s power unit since the end of the 2014 season. This means Scuderia Ferrari could go over half a second a lap faster with the same amount of fuel.
Our Technical Partnership with Ducati Corse has grown into one of the most successful collaborations in motorsport. Working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Ducati team, what we learn from our extreme testing environment on the racetrack is used to provide bikers all over the world with high performing products such as Shell V-Power road fuel and Shell Advance oil.
The Technical Partnership with Ducati
Shell’s Technical Partnership with Ducati has been hugely successful on and off the race track, enabling Shell Advance Motorcycle Oil to benefit bikers around the world with cutting edge technology. The Technical Partnership has been invaluable for the continued development of Shell Advance and Shell V-Power products in the most testing environments.
The relationship began in 1999 with Shell supporting Ducati Corse in the World Superbike Championship, before the two joined forces to contest the MotoGP World Championship together. The partnership has since stormed to seven Riders’ World Titles in MotoGP and the World Superbike Championship, and over 150 race wins, making it one of the strongest and most successful in the world of premier motorcycle racing.
Ducati not only uses Shell products on the track, but also chooses Shell Advance oil and Shell V-Power fuel as the first fill for every Ducati road bike that leaves its factory in Bologna, Italy.
Shell’s involvement in the MotoGP World Championship
MotoGP is the premier motorcycle racing championship in the world: a 19-race series that will visit 15 countries on four continents this season, with pan-global television coverage. The world’s most skilled riders line up on the grid armed with cutting-edge motorcycle technology and prototype machinery.
Established as a world championship by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) in 1949, MotoGP is now into its 68th year. It is the oldest motorsport championship in the world and is steeped in a rich history with events that have taken place in every corner of the world.
The 2018 MotoGP seasons sees three-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo once again partner Andrea Dovizioso at Ducati Corse, with hopes high after a successful 2017 season which saw the team claim six overall victories with Dovizioso finishing runner-up in the riders’ standings.
On top of providing bespoke Shell Advance motorcycle oils and Shell V-Power fuel for the Ducati factory team’s Desmosedici GP18s, Shell also continues its support to Ducati supported team Pramac Racing and its riders Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller.
Superbike world championship
With events held at some of the world’s most iconic racetracks, Superbike riders take part in two races in each round, which means that a maximum of 50 championship points are on offer during each race weekend. This year the Superbike calendar includes 13 events scheduled to take place in 12 different countries and spanning four continents.
Shell began supporting Ducati Corse in the World Superbike Championship in 1999, and today, continues to work with Aruba.it racing, Ducati’s factory supported team, supplying special race formulations of Shell Advance motorcycle oils and Shell V-Power fuel.