What engine oil is used in F1? Any different than say in IRL? Is it even close to the synthetic oil we purchase? They probably use some kind of 1W-1 ultra low viscosity/friction type, since it only has to last a few race weekends.

I wonder if something like that (a new additive) could explain an extra X number of added HP over the course of, oh…, say a Mercedes season. That’s a good way to sandbag: start the season with tractor oil and slowly lean it out to gain an advantage. I wonder what the oil pressure is in an F1 engine too?



(Growing up I’ve always been fascinated by how many motor oil commercials we’ve been exposed to. Thousands and thousands and thousands of them. How much do people spend on motor oil a year? I have no idea how all the marketing pays for itself. I’ve never once purchased anything but one brand. …Which of course – now that I think about it – is exactly the reason why it’s so important to spend, to convert people early.)

I think F1 teams just use a straight 0 weight oil during a race.

IRL and NASCAR teams will use a 0 weight for qualifying and switch to a straight 20 or 30 weight for the race.

1. The oil doesn't have to last race weekends, they are allowed to change fluids, and do so frequently. I know from Top Gear, that they actually have to warm the oil up, and pump it into the engine, before they start the car.

2. While you may spend less than 100 dollars a year on motor oil, for one car, there are a lot of cars out there, think of counties that have fleets of vehicles, police cruisers, ambulance, DOT vehicles, taxi's, etc, etc, those all need minimum 5 oil changes a year. There is plenty of money out there to be had. Lets not forget lawn mowers and other small engine tools.

I'm not quite sure what you guys are talking about when you say "zero-weight" oil. The number referrs to the oil's viscosity -- it's resistance to flowing. The viscosity numbers are based on the flow rate of a specific amount of water through an orifice of a specific size. The more time the oil takes to drip through the opening, the higher its viscosity.

For example: Let's say you pour a liter of water through a 3mm hole and it takes three seconds. Then you pour a liter of water through the same hole and it takes 180 seconds. Divide 180 by 3 and you have a ratio of 60:1 or a "60-weight" oil. If it only takes 120 seconds, it's a 40-weight oil, etc. Thus,a "zero-weight" oil would go right through the measuring device even before you pull the plug. Which, unless I miss my guess, is right next to impossible.

Now the problem with light-weight oil in racing engines. Certainly the stuff has to be slippery, but it also has to stay in the bearings long enough to lubricate. If your oil flows as fast as, or faster than, water, you'll need a very large, high-velocity pump to keep enough of it in the bearings and other places for it to do any good. You would also have to tighten the tolerances on pistons, bearings and everything else to keep the lubricant in place.

I once made the mistake of pouring 20-weight oil (I'd asked for 20W-40 but was given the wrong stuff) in a TR-4. The oil pressure was awful and it leaked/burned a lot of oil. Changing to 40-weight more or less solved the pressure problem. The engine was still an oil well, though. My brother and I found out the cause of that problem when we tore the engine down and found that whoever had worked on the car before us had broken one of the copper siamese O-ring seals at the bottom of the cylinder sleaves, lowering the top of the cylinder just enough to have loose contact with the head gasket. That let it suck in all sorts of things. Which, among other things, explained why the #3 cylinder kept oil-fouling its plug.

In his autobiography, "They Call Me Mr. 500," Andy Granitelli mentioned this problem when he took the NOVI engines from 1941 and tried to use them in the early 60s. He said, specifically, that the older engines had problems because the 40s-era tolerances were so tight, they were incompatible with the 60s-era oils. In other words, the engines were so tight, the modern oils couldn't get in where they were needed.

Now about pre-heating the oil. Sure, that sounds like they're trying to thin the oil out by heating it, but there are other reasons. The primary one is that the fittings, radiators, etc. on racing cars are mostly aluminium and lightly built. If a surge of cold oil goes through them (which happens with high-rpm pumps), there is the possibility of something breaking. Pat Bedard mentioned this problem in an article about a Ferrari Testarossa he raced at Daytona, one year. So bringing the oil up to temperature ensures everything will be warm and fully expanded before the race starts.

You've got to hand it to Formula One teams; they're obsessive about everything!

OW rating is a special case denoting a difference in the ‘pour point’ of oil. Pour point is 5°F above the point at which a chilled oil shows no movement at the surface for 5 seconds when inclined. 0W oils don't flow through a viscometer in zero seconds - they rate at 5 seconds just like a 5W oil but they are pourable at a much lower temperature like -45. It is a minor difference of some extra additives preventing it from becoming a gell at low temperatures but it doesn’t have much of an effect on the oil at F1 temperatures.

Oil that is too thick, be it because it is cold or as Grey can testify to the wrong grade, on high tolerance engines can do lots of damage… especially to rings that are as thin or thinner than a napkin. Anything that can get an extra RPM out of the engine in F1 is done to get that extra RPM because 1 corner can mean one point which can mean the difference between Hamilton and Massa…. One is a winner and the other isn’t and the difference between the two is hundreds of millions of dollars in sponsorships and side contracts with Bernie.

The reason engine oils are heated prior to a race (a practice followed by many series, not just F1) is to bring them up to operating temperature. About 220F. Multigrade oils are superior to straight grade oils because of a component known as "viscosity modifers". Long chain polymers, to be a bit more technical. Straight grades start to lose viscosity as temperature increases. Multigrades build viscosity. Too low of a viscosity will destroy a race engine, since they are under stress virtually as soon as they start. Having the oil at or near it's proper temperature is vital. An incredible amount of engineering goes into modern lubricants.

I use a 0W-30 synthetic in my street car that has 187,000 miles; on cold startup you can hear it build pressure RIGHT NOW.

Cat-Man-Do - 27 September 2009 02:58 PM

The reason engine oils are heated prior to a race (a practice followed by many series, not just F1) is to bring them up to operating temperature. About 220F. Multigrade oils are superior to straight grade oils because of a component known as "viscosity modifers". Long chain polymers, to be a bit more technical. Straight grades start to lose viscosity as temperature increases. Multigrades build viscosity. Too low of a viscosity will destroy a race engine, since they are under stress virtually as soon as they start. Having the oil at or near it's proper temperature is vital. An incredible amount of engineering goes into modern lubricants.

Too low of a viscosity won't destroy a race engine. Race engines have tight clearences for that very purpose.

Multigrades are great for street applications because they stay thin when it's cold. That aforementioned 0W-30 will have a viscosity of 0 when the engine has to start at 0 degrees F, but it'll thicken to a 30 weight when it reaches operating temp. Straight weights will have that same viscosity at any temperature.

I think heating the oil in the engine is more about heating the engine itself. F1 engines have such tight clearences, they probably sieze below 200 degrees.

I don't think they heat the oil, fact is they aren't even allowed to add or change the oil.

Quote from the F1 web site

"Oil may not be added to cars during the race."

impatientinventor - 27 September 2009 10:49 AM

OW rating is a special case denoting a difference in the ‘pour point’ of oil. Pour point is 5°F above the point at which a chilled oil shows no movement at the surface for 5 seconds when inclined. 0W oils don't flow through a viscometer in zero seconds - they rate at 5 seconds just like a 5W oil but they are pourable at a much lower temperature like -45. It is a minor difference of some extra additives preventing it from becoming a gell at low temperatures but it doesn’t have much of an effect on the oil at F1 temperatures.

Oil that is too thick, be it because it is cold or as Grey can testify to the wrong grade, on high tolerance engines can do lots of damage… especially to rings that are as thin or thinner than a napkin. Anything that can get an extra RPM out of the engine in F1 is done to get that extra RPM because 1 corner can mean one point which can mean the difference between Hamilton and Massa…. One is a winner and the other isn’t and the difference between the two is hundreds of millions of dollars in sponsorships and side contracts with Bernie.

I stand corrected, sir. Thanks for the information. I think I had something else in mind when I wrote that post. I shall have to study further.

11110001 - 27 September 2009 10:25 PM

I don't think they heat the oil, fact is they aren't even allowed to add or change the oil.

Quote from the F1 web site

"Oil may not be added to cars during the race."

Well, yes and no. As you say, the rules do not allow the team to add oil to the engine during the race; that is to say, if you have an oil leak and your oil leaks out, you are not allowed to pull in for a pit stop and pour more oil into the tank. This is to limit the amount of oil spilled on the track and dropped in front of competitors (on their visors, bodywork, tyres, etc.) by a single car.

However, there is no rule that I know of saying you can't change the oil before the race starts. You can replace the oil in a regulation-sized tank -- or remove it, heat it and pour it back in -- before hand if you wish. I'd be willing to bet that engine oil is routinely changed after practice and before each race.

As ImpatientInventor said, those Formula One engines run very close tolerances and dirt can play heck with them, not only from clogging, but general wear and tear. There is also the problem of metal shavings from all the various moving and rubbing parts which may show up in the oil. Therefore, it's sort of "one run and done" for each tank, so the car starts with fresh oil each time.

I should also point out that the additives put into oil for street engines are there to lengthen the life of the oil over several thousand miles. Detergents keep oil galleries clean, mileage extenders keep it flowing at its proper viscosity and other chemicals keep it from breaking down (becoming thinner and less able to lubricate), burning or "coking" from heat. Or turning to clay. My dad killed the engine in his Oldsmobile because he never changed oil and what was in the engine literally turned into something like clay. I had to scoop the stuff out of the cylinder head oil return galleries with a screw driver.

Again, racing engines are sensitive to all those things, especially "coking" and high-temperature breakdown. So rather than taking risks, the teams just change the stuff between track sessions.