Shell kept Scuderia Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen busy over Christmas with a special Formula 1-inspired winter test like no other at a closed track in the Swiss Alps. Fans and guests pitted their skills against each other, the elements, and the surprise addition of the former World Champion in a unique go-kart race on ice. Their mission? To hold off the enigmatic driver for just two laps as he started from the back of the grid.
The special experience was designed to recreate the extreme test bed of motorsport Shell uses to develop its Shell V-Power fuels and Shell Helix Ultra synthetic motor oils for the road. Instead of a track day, motorsport enthusiasts from across Europe were flown to Switzerland to test these products first-hand in sub-zero temperatures, with the Ice Man himself hot on their heels. The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for motorsport fans was made possible by the Shell Innovation Partnership with Scuderia Ferrari, one of most long-lasting and recognised relationships in the world of motor racing.
Shell has been involved in Formula 1 since the sport’s earliest days, powering Scuderia Ferrari at the inaugural FIA Formula 1 World Championship race in 1950, and to ten FIA Formula 1 Constructors’ titles and 12 Drivers’ Championship wins since. The company’s 21,000 man hour a year investment in their Formula 1 programme ladders up to one main purpose – to develop better fuels and lubricants for customers around the world, where innovations from the track are transferred the road. To bring this to life, a dedicated team of experts from Shell Technology Centre Hamburg, with expertise spanning both Formula 1 and road product development, were also on hand during to help uncover the science and innovation behind Shell’s latest generation of road fuels and motor oils.
Indeed, the Shell V-Power race fuel used by Scuderia Ferrari in Formula 1 contains 99% the same types of compounds as the Shell V-Power road fuel that powered this extreme challenge, and available to customers globally. The conditions were also a chance to showcase extreme temperature performance of Shell Helix Ultra synthetic motor oil. Made from natural gas, it helps motorists around the world protect their engines on all drives, even in weather as cold as -400C, far below than the already tough conditions on the test day itself.
