Ferrari F1 boss Binotto says moving to sustainable fuels is “a big deal”

So how big will the change be? As big as the switch from V8s to hybrids? And while many governments around the world only seem to speak of electric cars as the future, how strong will Formula 1 be that the future of cars and mobility doesn’t have to be purely electric?

To answer that, we spoke to Mattia Binotto, Team Principal at Scuderia Ferrari, and his F1 fuel partner István Kapitány, Shell’s Global Executive Vice President for Mobility.

The great change in fuels is advancing rapidly. Many countries have introduced a new, greener type of fuel, E10, which contains 10% bioethanol, which is distilled from plant material. In the next year, Formula 1 will take over this fuel and then take the lead with a switch to 100% sustainable fuels. If F1 has its way, the technology developed in F1 will soon find its way onto the forecourt and into the billions of cars that are already on the roads around the world.

“That is certainly a big deal. It’s vital for the Formula 1 roadmap to become sustainable, ”says Binotto. “F1 has always been an innovation platform, not just for performance, reliability and technology, but can also be innovation for sustainability. All-electric is not the only solution. We believe there are other solutions like hybridization with fully sustainable fuels.

Photo by: Erik Junius

“As far as engine design is concerned, there will be a very significant change in know-how. I think there will be a lot to learn about fuels of a new generation, fuels that are not so well known in the field of motorsport today.” We’re introducing E10 fuel, 10% ethanol in 2022. But what we will achieve in the next five years is certainly very different from the first stage of 10% ethanol. It’s fun because you have the challenge and it’s a learning curve, but it’s innovation. The challenge is to get the maximum performance out of a fully sustainable product. The difficulty will be trying to be the best as this is a competitive environment and competition is all about relative advantages. “

When hybrids were launched in 2014, there were mixed reactions from F1 fans, with the main complaint being the less noticeable noise of the engines. This narrative masked the impressive history of innovation that F1 engines had achieved a thermal efficiency of over 50%, the highest of any engine in the world. What change will fans see in 2025?

“I think it won’t be visible from the outside,” says Binotto. “When switching from the V8 to the hybrid V6, the sound changed back then. But if you look at the shape of the cars, I don’t think that much has changed for the fans. And considering what aggregate we have today, hybrid, very high thermal efficiency, I think the fans are not fully aware of that, and I think it will again be up to us to explain and emphasize successes in the sustainable fuels. In terms of change, I think it will be a big change and a big challenge for the technicians, the teams, for the equipment manufacturers. But I don’t think it will be that visible to the fans. “

“There have been incredible advances in battery technology in recent years,” says Kapitány. However, liquid fuels have a higher energy density, which gives us enormous opportunities to achieve high performance. This is another reason why it is important to us to work with Ferrari.

“There are different ways to get to a sustainable fuel. And Formula 1 is the right test bed for such activities. We are already producing second generation ethanol in commercial quantities. It is not made from the edible part of the sugar cane, but from the agricultural remains. We also have a patented solution called IH2 technology that creates high quality fuels from agricultural waste or household waste. E-fuels, synthetic fuels, synthetic components and the power of liquids are no strangers to us.

“Sustainable fuels are another alternative to electric vehicles. EVs are very good and they are coming and they will be part of the portfolio. But we also have to make sure that we offer different solutions, a mosaic of solutions for our customers, and that’s why we enjoy working in this world. “

So what are the next steps? “The next steps in terms of the roadmaps,” says Binotto a fully sustainable fuel for 2025. We are working very hard on this, because we know about the urgency and also the importance it has for the future of motorsport. “