Every lap counts: Co-engineering an F1® fuel

In Formula 1® racing, every drop of fuel and layer of oil must deliver – in every practice session and every lap of the race weekend. A fraction of a second can be the difference between winning points or dropping down the rankings.

For the Audi Revolut F1® Team, that’s where bp’s fuel and lubricants teams come in, especially in a year with new regulations from F1®’s governing body, the FIA.

“The influence of the fuels and lubricants on overall performance is bigger than in the past and the impact that bp can have as a partner is significant,” says Mattia Binotto, CEO and Team Principal, Audi Revolut F1® Team. “bp's people are part of our team, not external to it. It's a true partnership. We work together to understand the engine and agree on the direction of development."

With the 2026 season now well underway, bp’s teams are already racing to develop closely guarded formulations for next season.

As they’ve done for the last three years, our scientists, data analysts and trackside engineers are working hand-in-hand with the Audi Revolut F1® Team to progress the racing fuel and lubricants as the Audi Revolut F1® Team develops the power unit.

“We're trying to optimize the fuel’s ability to meet the engine's appetite. Because the engine is being constantly developed, that appetite is always changing,” says Suji Sogbesan, bp’s F1® fuel development lead. “It's like a dance – you have to match what the engine wants.”

‘The fuel is never finished’

Since the start of the season in March, the team has performed consistently towards the front of the midfield, scoring points on debut and learning more about its package each time they take to the track.

Each race generates a stream of data on performance, the power unit’s health and how well everything is working together. The bp team also gets information on how the fuel, lubricants and power unit behave in different conditions – from heat to wind to pouring rain. That information feeds straight back into the next iteration, with the team exploring opportunities to improve performance.

Between races, the Audi Revolut F1® Team’s factory engineers and our fuel development team meet several times a week to turn data into the next round of improvements.

"From a performance perspective, the fuel is never finished," says Suji. "Whenever we hit a deadline, we give them a highly optimised best formulation possible at that stage, but there's always more to be done."

Power of partnership

This 2026 season marked the debut of some of the biggest changes ever to F1® racing regulations. For the first time, every power unit must run on what the FIA calls advanced sustainable fuels¹, which meet specific sustainability requirements set out in the 2026 technical regulations. In addition, each car must run on a hybrid engine, powered by electricity and liquid fuel.

bp’s fuels team worked on creating bp Ultimate Racing with the Audi Revolut F1® Team over the last few years, testing more than 200 blends in Audi engines before the start of the 2026 season to get the high-performance mix currently used in the cars. These tests happened as the Audi Revolut F1® Team developed its power unit – with changes to one often requiring changes to the other.

“You cannot develop an F1 fuel in isolation,” says Luc Jolly, motorsport fluids technology lead. “With the 2026 season in progress, that close working relationship has deepened as we continue working together to optimize performance.”

Building for the long-term

Getting the lubricants, fuels and the power unit all working together in the most effective way possible after such a significant regulation change is a major challenge for all of the Formula 1® competitors this year – and the Audi Revolut F1® Team faces the extra challenge of racing against rivals with decades of Formula 1® experience.

The Audi Revolut F1® Team and bp are making the most of their agile structures, which means they can move quickly and take bold decisions with fuel concepts.

"To have the audacity to come in as a new team, I think others would have expected us to be way behind, and that’s not the case,” says Suji.

For bp and the Audi Revolut F1® Team, 2026 is the foundation. They are taking a long-term approach, with a multi-year plan to boost competitiveness.

"The start of the season has given us plenty to learn from, and now the desire is to keep moving forward," says Suji. "We're thinking about the next race, but we're also thinking about where we need to be in 18 months. That's the mindset." 

Informing the future of fuels

Racing fuels are developed exclusively for motorsport, but the research and insights we gain can help inform future research and development.

For bp, the Audi Revolut F1® Team gives us a high-pressure testbed to innovate new advanced fuels and lubricants. With tight timelines, this high-pressure environment has the potential to support innovation that may one day be used on the road.

At bp, our work on motorsport fuels and lubricants involves the same laboratories, scientists and engineers who work on our road fuels and products, which are formulated differently.

“Our work in motorsport gives us a live test lab. It can give us a deeper understanding of additive technologies, new fuel components and more. These are all areas that have the potential to one day improve the performance and reliability of the fuels and lubricants used by drivers worldwide,” says Luc.