Rogério Freitas Gonçalves
The fuel provider for the Williams team in Formula One, Petrobras uses the world’s top auto racing category as a laboratory to develop state-of-the-art technologies that will later reach Brazilian consumer, such as the Podium gasoline. And now Petrobras is getting ready for a new challenge: As of 2007, Toyota will substitute Cosworth as the engine provider for the British team. Petrobras’ F1 Program’s technical coordinator, mechanical engineer Rogério Freitas Gonçalves, talks about what is likely to happen in the trail of this transition.
How will the Williams x Toyota partnership impact Petrobras as the British team's official fuel provider?
The agreement between Petrobras and Williams is still in effect. This is only a change in engine providers, and Petrobras must adapt to it. We have already gone through a few experiences such as this one, like the transition from the Renault engines to BMW, then to Cosworth, and now to Toyota. But this is also a new partner with whom Petrobras may build good relationships in several areas.
Can we expect more podiums for the sponsored team with the Toyota engines? From the technological development viewpoint, what changes?
Yes, we can expect victories and we will always seek the best possible performance. Engine replacement has two quite different characteristics: on the one hand, it is a pity to interrupt a technological relationship in which the engine and its interaction with our gasoline is very well known; on the other hand, there are great opportunities for new developments and challenges. Everything is new. All of the raw materials that we have to use in gasoline formulation may be tested. We already have a few gasolines ready to test in the Toyota engines, and we will pick the best one to start the development work and to provide for the first track tests with the new engine, later on this year. Meanwhile, we will begin work with experimental gasoline.
What are Petrobras’ next steps to adjust to the change?
The first step is to quickly identify a gasoline, among the ones we already have, to immediately provide to the team, aiming at supplying the engines that will be used in the first practices for the 2007 season. We will then begin the development procedure to try to discover the best composition recipe for a gasoline that will achieve the best possible power, the lowest consumption rate, and give the Toyota engine and its components the most durability.
What are the major differences between a gasoline used for passenger cars and the racing bolides?
In terms of specifications, there isn't much of a difference. The F1 gasoline regulation is based on the specifications for commercial gasoline in Europe for 2009. You cannot use hydrocarbons are not found in commercial gasolines. The major difficulty is to find the best components and match them appropriately in order for them to allow the best possible performance within the limitations imposed by the regulation. An engine that today runs at 20,000 rotations per minute demands a combustion process that is quite different from the one that takes place in a passenger car, which hardly ever peaks at more than 6,000 RPM.
How is competition gasoline developed?
First off, power evaluation tests are carried out with several different gasolines. Once the best one has been selected, it is then submitted to durability tests in the dynamometer and on the track, until it can be produced in large amounts, homologized by FIA, and provided for races and practices.
Which company areas are involved in this challenge?
The Supply (Refining and Marketing) areas and the Research Center (Cenpes) work in the development.
Has the partnership with Williams brought dividends to Petrobras?
The return is fantastic! In the beginning of the partnership (1998), Petrobras was largely unknown in this Formula 1 “circus.” Few people were aware of our field of performance. We now have an excellent reputation, the quality of our gasoline as already mentioned, and several other teams have contacted us, interested in our products. Furthermore, the F1 is an excellent event to develop relationships with customers, and even new business has been developed based on the contacts made in this environment.
Is the use of any type of biofuel foreseen for the F1?
Using biofuels is a goal for commercial fuels worldwide. In the Formula 1, they will be required as of 2008, initially at a proportion of 5.75%, added to the gasoline. Petrobras has already started studies on this, and we have large experience in this area, based on the use of ethanol mixed to gasoline here in Brazil.
Is the Formula 1 still the preferential test field? How does this benefit the final Petrobras product consumer?
The major advantage of a partnership such as this one is the ongoing study dedicated to new product development. At each moment, we discover new raw materials and gain better knowledge of how our products work in high technology engines. This is a large research laboratory.
Products used in competition have different requirements from those sold to the common consumer, but all of the technological knowledge that is acquired through this research is indirectly converted to this public. An example of this is the Podium gasoline, which was formulated using this knowledge and a computational formulation model Petrobras developed originally for the F1.