I think it was back in Austin that I first mentioned that Red Bull would be getting a deal with ExxonMobil, to replace its partnership with Total. It has taken a while but the story has finally been confirmed, the date is obviously part of this as December 1 is often a contractual cut-off point for deals and so we can expect some more stories to sneak out in the days ahead if anyone, for example, has an option on an engine deal for 2018, which must be taken up or dropped, and this sort of thing.
I am still expecting to hear that Renault has done a big deal with BP, as the McLaren deal announced some weeks ago seems to be only a fuel and lubricant partnership and not a sponsorship. I believe the proposed BP-Renault deal will be for about $35 million (which is a big deal these days) but it is rather complex as Renault and has an ongoing agreement with Elf (a division of Total) until 2019 for Renault to recommend the use of Elf lubricants to its whole network and customers around the globe. Renault has promoted Elf oils in its road cars for decades, while its F1 cars also carried Elf sponsorship. This changed in 2009, when Elf logos were replaced by Total. The problem is that it seems that Total has decided to stop all sponsorship in F1 in 2017, what with the oil price and falling revenues. Renault wants money for F1 or freedom to have another partner. This is taking time to sort out.
joeblogsf1 
Any idea of what ExxonMobil will be paying Red Bull, or what they paid McLaren?
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what about Total’s ‘french’ driver sponsorship ; I know he is really swiss so might make him easier to cut off
The main reason that triggered this sequence of events was mainly because Honda wanted to work with BP/Castrol who they have a long established relationship in several motorsport categories? Or something else?
Surely BP/Castrol’s Coolants, Oils, Lubricants and Fuels (COLF) for the F1 Hybrid Era will be several years behind Exxon Mobil’s IP –> Mclaren have PU and COLF suppliers which each have 2-3 years less experience than the other PU and COLF suppliers in F1?
Joe,
So if you are correct and the BP sponsorship goes to Renault, is this the straw that broke Ron Dennis’s back at McLaren by insisting on his rate card and pushing away the sponsorship money? Or is it that BP is covering two brands in F1 BP at Renault and Castrol at McLaren or both that and the unyielding rate card?
You say things are complicated for Renault with Total. But it is worse than you explained it. Red Bull has Renault engines, so Renault has to or should engineer the engines for Mobil 1 oils and Exon fuels. The oil companies, especially Shell and Ferrari have told us the fuel and oil is critical to performance in F1.
If Renault is using Total or BP as a supplier who wins out when one wants a change the other does not? RBR or Renault? Seems the works team will ignore the route RBR want to go unless it suits them. BP gets to inherit all the smarts from Exon on fuel and oil. Renault has access to the changes that RBR/Exon want to make to the engines going forward and Exon can’t forget what it learnt with Merc and Honda engines in the past.
BP will be told by Renault what they think they need, but that thought process will inevitably leak back to McLaren if they are using BP as well. So it seems Renault is in the cat bird seat to discover the most possible about the other teams engines and how to optimize fuel and oil, but McLaren and Honda wont be out of that loop.
Sure they could ring fence the efforts. So now McLaren\Honda has to tell what the want to the oil experts at BP and they will deliver that. BP wont deliver that to Renault unless they happen to ask for the exact same thing. But that means you don’t get the most from experts. They are doing what they are told and not delivering the best of what they know. The only solution there is the ring fence means a totally independent labs for each team.That is an expensive deal for BP at a time when Total is getting out because of low oil prices. Sure the lawyers and that IP mess above is not delaying things at Renault?
> Red Bull has Renault engines, so Renault has to or should engineer the engines for Mobil 1 oils and Exon fuels.
Joe, how does the Renault / Red Bull conreact work for this? It seems a bit odd that Red Bull could compete with Renault for Exxon sponsorship, bag the cash at Renault’s expense, and then tell Viry to swallow the costs of making it work. Or does the engine supply deal explicitly give RBR the right to nominate their own fuel & lubricants supplier, even if this is not the same as the works team?
And on a related note – what are the performance implications of all this, for McLaren, Renault, RBR and STR? (STR will go with Exxon??) Even Autosport is suggesting that it could cause problems for Renault that the switch is happening so late…
Thank you, great catch – not seen this reported with this intepretation anywhere.
BP/Castrol provide COLFs to Mclaren, but do not sponsor Mclaren, they sponsor Renault…who are not using BP/Castrol COLFs…??!!
I’m sponsoring my kid for the school run but I also bought new trainers for his nemesis in class so that he wins.
Would Toro Rosso also be included in this deal?
Why didnt McLaren-BP deal happen ? If McLaren will use BP’s products, it doesnt make sense sponsorship with Renault. Why do you think BP is close to Renault than McLaren Joe ?
I am sure that BP wants first fill deals…
Does this deal hint on the new engine supplier?
Don’t know
Some deals are purely a marketing exercise. I think that RBR will use Mobil 1 fuel and oil as much as they use TAG-HEUER engine, if you see what I mean.
Does anybody believe that Williams used PDVSA fuel and oil, or that STR ever used CEPSA fuel and oil?.
This of course coincides with the really very good indeed article by the coffin dodger in GP+. Mentioning the fuel composition of the earlier years when anything was tried. This also chimes with Sir JYS tearing his fire resistant overalls off after his famous excursion and attempted tree bending at th aold Spa circuit.
All I remember of the smells of that era is Castrol R and methanol. You were someone special if you had Castrol R in your sports car, However it gummed up the engine something rotten if not run at racing temperatures, remember the days of de-coking !
So, it’s being reported that Renault have made provision for homologating engines under two different oil & lubricant suppliers, and that this opens the door to a separate engine development programme for the Red Bull teams. Any word on whether that’s the case, Joe? Either way, I’m still a bit surprised that this story isn’t getting more attention. Unlike the TAG engine branding deal, this has real world consequences for the Renault engine programme, and yet there’s no public indication that they’ve had any say at all…