Not a MotoGP fan myself so unsure of that! However if true, looks like Petronas will be out of F1 too you would assume. Surely a big risk for Mercedes given how key fuel/lubricants have been with the hybrid engines
Richest oil company in the world? I saw the other day they are the richest company in the world overtaking Apple!!casper wrote: ↑17 Oct 2021, 03:10It is not easy, but doable.There are a lot of analysis tools available to scientists and data produced fed to supercomputers that Aramco , being the richest oil company in the world can finance to do. Heck, the corona virus structure was elucidated in this way so vaccines were developed in record time. Or, ARAMCO could just buy the IP, in exchange for $ and allowing Malaysia some leeway in the OPEC controlled crude oil production volume. A sure win-win for both.
If I remember correctly, the fuel and lubricants were developed exclusively for Mercedes in Germany and Petronas is just a namesponser.adrianjordan wrote: ↑17 Oct 2021, 00:23If Petronas are leaving the sport, then I would hope Mercedes has a contractual right to the specific details of the products developed by them for the Merc PU.
Though I can understand Petronas not wanting a competitor to gain access to their IP, would they be relevant outside of F1?
How advanced are chemical analysis methods? Could Aramco reverse engineer the same products anyway?
More to the point.... If this is true then we'll be seeing a change to the Merc livery!!!
They can do what McLaren did. Use Petronas fuel, pay for it and still use Exxon Mobil sponsorship and lubricants.adrianjordan wrote: ↑17 Oct 2021, 00:23If Petronas are leaving the sport, then I would hope Mercedes has a contractual right to the specific details of the products developed by them for the Merc PU.
Though I can understand Petronas not wanting a competitor to gain access to their IP, would they be relevant outside of F1?
How advanced are chemical analysis methods? Could Aramco reverse engineer the same products anyway?
More to the point.... If this is true then we'll be seeing a change to the Merc livery!!!
Not necessarily the complete story. Petronas are known sponsoring research if they don't have the capabiltites themselves. I read of their methods in a business text book. So technically it is still their fuels and lubricants.NL_Fer wrote: ↑17 Oct 2021, 10:07If I remember correctly, the fuel and lubricants were developed exclusively for Mercedes in Germany and Petronas is just a namesponser.adrianjordan wrote: ↑17 Oct 2021, 00:23If Petronas are leaving the sport, then I would hope Mercedes has a contractual right to the specific details of the products developed by them for the Merc PU.
Though I can understand Petronas not wanting a competitor to gain access to their IP, would they be relevant outside of F1?
How advanced are chemical analysis methods? Could Aramco reverse engineer the same products anyway?
More to the point.... If this is true then we'll be seeing a change to the Merc livery!!!
Regarding Ineos:torpor wrote: ↑17 Oct 2021, 14:25I know that Shell and Exxon are no angels. But saudi company Aramco as main sponsor would be a PR disaster for Merc.
As Aramco wants to become more and more a petrochemical supplier – there would be big overlaps with Ineos one of the Mercedes F1 shareholders.
It’s a press canard. I’m sure
INEOS signs agreement with Saudi Aramco and Total to build it's first ever plants in the Middle East.
The three world-scale plants will produce the key building blocks for carbon fibre, engineering polymers and synthetic lubricants that are pivotal to economic growth in the region.
Saudi Aramco and Total are preparing the construction of a $5 bn petrochemical complex (Project Amiral) which will supply more than $4 bn of downstream derivatives and speciality chemicals units; the three INEOS plants will be part of them
Refering to 2014 when they were sponsored by Exxon. McLaren reportedly used their own lubricants different from Petronas. The fuel was like Petronas though. McLaren could be seen hauling unbranded drums at the time if my memory serves so to me it was the same fuel.
