With Formula 1’s 2026 regulation reset coming into effect, Castrol has collaborated with the Audi Revolut F1 Team to develop bespoke lubricants and EV fluids. BP has also been developing a high-performance fuel to power the Audi Revolut F1 Team’s hybrid engine and meet Formula 1 2026 regulations. Both BP and Castrol are official partners to the team.
Experts from Castrol and the Audi F1 Team have co-developed a bespoke Castrol Edge engine oil for the Audi AFR 26 Hybrid power unit. The formulation is designed to balance performance and reliability under strict energy limits, helping reduce frictional losses to maximize usable power from the same fuel while protecting components under extreme loads.
Castrol and Audi engineers are working in a continuous, data-driven development cycle to optimize the oil’s on-track performance, supporting the team’s preparations for its debut Formula 1 season.
Chris Lockett, senior vice president, Castrol Technology, said, “This season’s engineering changes are huge, and completely reset the technology challenge. With electrification providing around half the power in the car, and much tighter energy supply constraints, engine oil is now an active performance component in an F1 car, a not-so-secret ingredient that could make a real difference to where teams finish this season. This is what our technical partnership with the Audi Revolut F1 Team is all about – enhancing the efficiency and reliability of critical systems to deliver the best possible performance on the track.”
Mattia Binotto, head of the Audi Revolut F1 Team, added, “Our technical partnership with Castrol goes much deeper than a conventional partnership. We have been working hand in hand since 2022, testing, analysing and refining together to develop bespoke fluids that perform in the toughest racing environments. But it goes beyond simply developing products: we will have a Castrol engineer with us at every race as part of our team, helping us prepare for races and debriefing on performance, playing an integral role in our F1 season.”
Along with its bespoke engine oil, Castrol will provide a full fluid strategy for the Audi Revolut F1 Team’s race cars and their most demanding systems – including gearbox oil, hydraulic fluid and ERS fluid. The partners will also work together to conduct analysis to understand fluid behavior, protect hardware and sustain performance in the extreme operating conditions of F1. Beyond the car, Audi F1’s Hinwil factory is testing Castrol’s advanced metalworking fluids alongside its SmartCoolant automation system to support high‑precision chassis production.
Michelle Jou, CEO at Castrol, commented, “Castrol and Audi have a history built on winning and developing technology that can perform in the most extreme racing environments – the toughest testing grounds for technology that ultimately make it into millions of vehicles across the world. We have worked with Audi through many of their engineering breakthroughs, partnering on innovations like Quattro in the 1980s, increasing hybridization in the 2010s with the Audi E-tron Quattro, electrification in Formula E in 2021, and now we are carrying forward our shared innovation-first mindset into the new era of F1.”
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