Car
Formula 1 lubricants: why are Valvoline’s products so important to Aston Martin F1 Team?
by Samarth Kanal
7min read
There are more than 1,000 moving parts within a Formula 1 engine. That constant motion creates intense wear amid punishing temperatures. That’s where Valvoline, which supplies lubricant products - and is planning to supply engine and gearbox products - to Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team, comes into play.
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The Aramco and Aston Martin Racing strategic partnership
Specialised lubricants are pivotal to the operation of an F1 car. They can touch almost every moving part of the car, whether that’s in the engine, gearbox, suspension, wheels, and every bearing and bolt in between.
With F1 teams allocated just four engines and their related components per season of 24 grands prix and six sprint events, plus four gearboxes, Valvoline’s lubricants are formulated with reliability in mind.
However, with every gram of fluid adding weight to - and therefore taking away performance from - the car, lubricants must also be formulated to be as efficient as possible.
Furthermore, Valvoline’s lubricants benefit performance - and they’ve been doing just that for Aston Martin since 2023…
Our experience in racing has taught us there is no “good enough” – only the next opportunity to increase performance whether that is on the track or off
Roger England
, vice president and chief research and development officer, Valvoline
Why are lubricants so important to an F1 team?
Formula 1 engines rev up to 15,000 RPM and their combustion chambers can reach temperatures of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius.
This intense heat can cause rapid expansion of parts, and therefore damage, if left unchecked. Furthermore, with more than a thousand moving parts within the engine and gearbox - and thousands more across the rest of the car - friction can wear down parts to a critical extent.
Lubricant suppliers therefore focus on limiting the effects of friction and heat on moving parts whether that’s inside the engine, gearbox, or on the wheel bearings and suspension.
Roger England, vice president and chief research and development officer of Valvoline Global Operations, told RaceTeq: “The reliability requirements of an F1 powertrain are extremely demanding.
Some lubricant suppliers even provide products to enhance pitstops
“F1 has a rule allowing only three power unit changes per year, so engines typically run up to eight races.
“We are working with the Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team on many different fluids that the race team uses, both at the shop and track.
“With our team of talented scientists, we can lean into many unique issues, leveraging our know-how and experience to improve performance.
“Our experience in racing has taught us there is no “good enough” – only the next opportunity to increase performance whether that is on the track or off.”
Valvoline currently supplies multiple fluids to Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 team but power unit lubricants will be implemented from 2026 when Honda begins supplying power units to the F1 team.
“We have already used quite a lot of products from Valvoline,” said Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 team principal Mike Krack.
“The Formula 1 impact is really focused on 2026. We know that in Formula 2, and Formula 3, there are already Aramco fuels - and a lot of experience has been built up already in that regard.
“Valvoline’s supply began last year [2023] with the introduction of some basic greases. We’ve rolled it out more and more to all the products that are basically being used in the garage - from non-performance impacting products to performance differentiating lubricants.”
Teams are allocated just four power units per season, which means reliability is key
How lubricants can improve a team’s performance
Valvoline prioritises a holistic approach to improving reliability and performance within the AMR24 F1 car.
At championship-winning team Red Bull, lubricants are even used to optimise pitstop performance thanks to a specialised product formulated for the wheel guns, wheel nuts and bearings - and it’s not outlandish to imagine that other lubricant suppliers are working to achieve similar goals with their teams.
Adding performance while ensuring reliability isn’t as easy as it seems, however.
That’s partly thanks to parasitic loss, which is a term applied to devices that take energy from the internal combustion engine and gearbox to convert that energy to motion or other types of energy.
Numerous components cause parasitic loss at the heart of an F1 car: piston rings, valve springs, transmissions, driveshafts, differentials, and more. All of these devices convert the energy produced by the combustion engine and its electrical counterparts into kinetic energy.
However, the oil pump, which is used to lubricate the engine, also causes parasitic loss as it uses engine power to keep the engine protected.
“The stress that racing in F1 puts on a power unit is exacerbated by trying to remove all the parasitic losses possible to increase power,” says England.
An oil pump uses engine power to feed lubricants into the engine, which causes a very slight drain on engine power. This is an example of ‘parasitic loss’
If a lubricant isn’t formulated correctly, it can cause excessive parasitic loss.
The FIA technical regulations limit the chemicals that can be used within lubricants, but also their viscosities.
Viscosity is the measure of how much a fluid resists flowing, and F1 lubricants must be formulated to fit within a specific window of viscosity.
England says Valvoline is always looking to hit a middle ground in ensuring engines are properly protected without affecting performance: “Pursuit of increased power pushes us to lower viscosities, while the need for longevity pushes us to higher viscosities.
“We are constantly looking to find the exact spot in between, trading longevity for power, but never stepping over the line.”
Everything in F1 is constantly being adjusted and tweaked for performance, and the fluids are no exception.
Roger England
, Valvoline
How long do F1 lubricants take to be developed?
F1 teams are constantly designing, testing and honing their parts to find performance and improve their cars’ behaviour, and this is no different for lubricant suppliers such as Valvoline.
“The formulation will undergo constant change throughout the season, looking for small incremental gains that combined can lead to a championship,” says England.
Valvoline is currently working with Aston Martin to formulate specific products for the team’s next engine, as Honda will supply the team from the 2026 F1 season onwards. Furthermore, Aston Martin will build its own gearbox from 2026 as it and Mercedes part ways.
“We are working alongside the 2026 power unit supplier [Honda], and we will continue to optimise our formulation as the engine is refined,” England says.
“Everything in F1 is constantly being adjusted and tweaked for performance, and the fluids are no exception. That optimisation will continue throughout the racing season; formulation optimisation is truly a race without a finish line.
“Given that expectation, we were very excited to be able to debut some of our fluids in the car at Silverstone [in 2024], starting on that task just six weeks before the [British Grand Prix]. That whirlwind of work created a great camaraderie and trust between the team at Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team and Valvoline that we continue to build upon today.”
Honda, who previously supplied power units to Red Bull, will become Aston Martin’s engine partner from 2026
In 2026, a major change will however affect F1 engines, with the MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit - Heat) to be removed from the power unit while the MGU-K (Motor Generator Unit - Kinetic) set to be made more powerful.
“The change in the electrical propulsion has the potential to add more to a very exciting sport. We will be working with Honda Racing Corporation and Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team Racing to optimise both the electrical and internal combustion segments, to achieve the highest possible on-track performance,” adds England.
Do F1 lubricants make it to road cars?
‘Road relevance’ is a term often used to describe F1 innovations that make it to road cars and the wider commercial market.
It has been attributed to such innovations as the hybrid engine itself, the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), and paddle-shifted gearboxes.
Within the world of lubricants, road relevance is very much attainable and at a rapid rate, as suppliers such as Valvoline can take their motorsport experience and translate that to bolster the performance and reliability of road cars.
“In racing, we aim to decrease frictional losses and hold fuelling constant, in turn increasing power. In the cars we all drive, this same concept can increase fuel economy leading to fewer carbon emissions,” says England.
Valvoline’s extensive motorsport experience means it can effectively transition its F1 technology to its road-bound products
“Given that many cars today only utilise about half the energy of the fuel they burn, we believe there is opportunity to positively impact the commercial and passenger car market using the technology we learn from Formula 1.”
Valvoline has been working to protect and enhance engines since 1866, and it was in 1895 when a Valvoline-lubricated car won The Chicago Times-Herald race - the first motor race held in the United States.
Nearly 130 years later, Valvoline is embarking on a momentous project with Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 team.
The results could shape Formula 1 - and go well beyond the pinnacle of motorsport.