Red Bull Formula 1 team expects 0.15s Spa gain from new fuel
Red Bull's Formula 1 fuel supplier ExxonMobil expects a 0.15-second gain for the team at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix as the result of the upgrade produced for Hungary
A new development of the Esso Synergy fuel that ran for the first time at the Hungaroring should show better around the power track of Spa-Francorchamps, with the step forward enough to potentially make a difference in grid positions.
At last year's Belgian GP, Max Verstappen missed out on a slot on the second row by just 0.110s.
David Tsurusaki, ExxonMobil global technology manager, expects Spa to show the update's worth.
"At a faster and longer track, we feel and the team feels from a simulation standpoint it is about up to 0.15s per lap," he told Autosport.
"It is not huge, but for something that the fuel is contributing to, it is an important piece of what we do to help the team."
The Hungary upgrade was the first in-season development for Red Bull, with potential for the swifter introduction of new fuels being dependent on when it could get dyno testing at Renault's Viry headquarters.
Asked whether fuel upgrades would have arrived sooner if Red Bull had been a works team, Tsurusaki replied: "I don't know if our process was slower than their other oil supplier - you would have to ask them.
"I think it could have been faster, the process could have been faster, and the cycles could have been faster to get things done.
"We were always ready, so if they [Renault] were ready to do some testing, we were ready to do the development work to get that ready.
"It is maybe a frustration between Red Bull and Renault of having that development time and putting things together.
"Of course, we could have gone faster but it wasn't up to us."
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