How expensive is F1 fuel? Aston Martin chief explains

Aston Martin F1 team's key personnel, Dan Fallows, Andy Stevenson, and Mike Krack have shed light on the nature of the fuel used in Formula 1 and how it differs from regular fuel.

The fuel used in F1 cars is very different from what's used in regular road cars, according to Krack, who serves as Aston Martin's team principal. He stated that F1 fuel is designed to give the cars more power on the track.

“Formula 1 fuel is quite different to the fuel for the normal road car and it is extra made for delivering more power for the same litre,” he said, in a video posted on LinkedIn.

“You would not get Formula 1 fuel at a petrol station,” he added.

Aston Martin's technical director Fallows said that F1 cars use fuel which is specially designed for them and that it wouldn't be of any use if used in regular cars.

“It's specially designed to have properties for race car engines to make sure that those engines work as efficiently as possible at a very high RPO or revs per minute that they operate at,” he said.

“So if you put Formula 1 fuel in your road car, unfortunately, the car’s brain, the ECU, would completely have a meltdown and probably stop operating altogether unfortunately,” he added.

On what's different between regular fuel and the one used in F1, sporting director Andy Stevenson said:

“We remove a lot of the agents that do the cleaning. In a road car, we constantly need to clean it. A road car is going to do many, many thousands of miles, where a Formula 1 car only has to complete one Grand Prix.”

Stevenson also gave an estimate on how much it would cost to fill a regular car with F1 fuel, saying:

“So if I was to film my road car with Formula 1 fuel, it probably cost me about three and a half thousand euros.”

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Armed with major upgrades, Aston Martin takes podium finish at the Canada Grand Prix

With an extensive update package at the Canadian Grand Prix, Aston Martin looked quicker than usual in Montreal.

They changed their sidepods, added new sculptured floor wings, and altered the upper deck of the car's bodywork. The tightening of the bodywork now allows for more airflow to the rear.

All this, and more, meant that despite Fernando Alonso losing position to Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap of the race, he had the pace to snatch it back with ease and finish P2.

While the AMR23 isn't fast enough to catch Max Verstappen's Red Bull RB19 just yet, the difference in pace between the two cars was the lowest this season in Canada.

Alonso's enjoying life at Aston Martin, with his six podiums in eight races in 2023 being twice what he scored in his previous seven seasons combined.