Shell season review - 9th November 20:38pm GMT

Reviewing the 2004 season, Ferrari’s technical partner Shell will reflect on a season in which it helped win 15 races out of 18 while finishing on the podium in the remaining three! Once again, the team did not see a single technical failure of the ever-reliable Italian car.

Luca di Montezemolo, FIAT Group President and Ferrari CEO could not summarise it any better: ‘We must not forget the invaluable contribution of all our sponsors and suppliers who play an active role in our success. If I can single out two as examples: Shell, who have stuck with us over the years, investing in technology and constant improvement and Bridgestone, who have played a really pivotal role in all our wins and with whom, over the past years, we have made great steps forward.’

The 2004 season also saw Formula One breaking into new grounds with new races with debutant Formula One hosts such as China and Bahrain but fundamentally, the objective was the same as it has always been, to be as fast and reliable as possible.

Back in the middle of a hard Italian winter, the Ferrari F2004 was unveiled to the world’s press at the team’s base in Maranello. Initial reaction was surprise at how similar the car was to the previous season’s challenger the F2003-GA, but Ferrari insisted that the car would be very different beneath its skin.

Indeed, below the deceptively recognisable exterior lurked a brand-new Ferrari engine. Now built to last an entire race weekend, the engine was protected with a brand new Shell lubricant, Shell Helix SL785, as was its gearbox with a new blend of Shell Spirax. The unit was also powered with a new Shell fuel, the result of a long development programme. The fuel, Shell V-Power ULG58 was set to deliver more power to the car without compromising the efficiency but the real development with this evolution lay with its weight.

Significantly lighter than its predecessor, Shell V-Power ULG58 offered the team a remarkable strategic advantage by delivering the same power levels as before but with a lighter fuel load. Drivers could now modify their strategy, taking more liberty with tyres and with qualifying fuel loads.

We saw this at first hand in Imola when, having followed pole-sitter Button for the first few laps, Schumacher stayed out on track for two laps longer than the B.A.R. In that time, he used his light car to lap Imola faster than his heavy opponent. Come the time for the Ferrari’s stop, Schumacher exited the pit lane in the lead of the race to take win number four of the year.

The same trick was used in Spain at the following meeting, this time beating Sato in the process. By discovering how to blend the Shell fuel to a lower density whilst at the same time keeping the power and efficiency levels high served the Ferrari team well all year. Even as late in the year as the Italian Grand Prix, Barrichello used his weight advantage to carve a lead in his second stint, an advantage that allowed him to leave his final stop with a lead that he would convert into his first race win of the year.

Come the Canadian Grand Prix, the second iteration of the lubricant programme made its race debut. Shell Helix SL485 was blended as a high-protection lubricant to protect the engine at some of the mechanically-harder races of the year. With its long straights and high revs, Canada was the natural choice for its introduction. Once again, the lubricant proved to be faultless. Both in Montreal and in Indianapolis, neither of the F2004s missed a beat, earning the team a maximum 36 points in the process.

The second generation of gearbox lubricant came to light in Hungary. Renowned for its stern test of gearboxes owing to its many tight corners, the Shell Spirax made its debut in Hungary with another maximum 18 point-haul as the end result.

With a selection of lubricants from which to choose, Ferrari and Shell continued the year with this portfolio until Brazil, when a third blend of Shell Helix was used for the final race of the season. With typically odd weather on race day, history may show the race as an indifferent result for Ferrari but closer examination of the car’s performance throughout the weekend betrays the points tally. Barrichello’s pole lap that Saturday afternoon was faultless as once again both Ferrari’s finished the race strongly without a technical glitch.

Despite the various blends that have made their way from the computers at Shell Global Solutions’ base in Chester, UK to the Ferrari 053 engine, the one constant has been the fact that Shell engineers involved with the Formula One project have been sharing their learnings and knowledge with their colleagues across the company. It is no exaggeration to say that the same scientists developing Shell V-Power and Shell Helix Ultra for the road are the same scientists who have powered Schumacher and Barrichello through another historic Formula One season.

As various testing bans come into place, the technological development moves on apace behind the scenes. Shell will develop a new fuels and lubricants package for next year’s car, the designs of which are well underway. These products will undergo a rigorous testing schedule in the new and old engines both on the track and at the engine testing lab back at Maranello before they are race ready, but as the teams prepare for the Melbourne race in only 16 weeks time, they can reflect on what has been another incredible year for both Ferrari and Shell.

New regulations restricting the use of tyres in 2005 will put even more emphasis onto pit stop strategy next year so this winter’s development schedule will be as vital as ever. Keep an eye on lap times in winter testing and don’t miss the season-opener when the new cars, fuels and oils will break cover for the first time.