Sebastian Vettel’s return to the wheel of the Ferrari F2002 will involve far more than simply bringing one of Maranello’s historic Formula 1 cars back to life. Shell has created a modern fuel specifically for the F2002 in only four days, allowing its original V10 engine to run without requiring technical modifications.
The project presented an unusual engineering challenge. Rather than reproducing the petrol used when the F2002 competed more than two decades ago, Shell had to formulate a contemporary product capable of behaving in a way compatible with an engine designed around very different fuel technology.
Shell develops modern Ferrari F2002 fuel for its original V10
The new formulation contains Advanced Sustainable components derived from renewable raw materials, including biological waste and agricultural residues. At the same time, the fuel had to remain compatible with the characteristics expected by the F2002’s original power unit.
That meant Shell’s scientists had to account for several interconnected factors. The fuel needed to reproduce suitable combustion behaviour, work correctly with the materials used in the historic engine and deliver the type of performance response for which the V10 had originally been designed, all while incorporating molecules obtained from renewable sources.
The objective was therefore much more complex than recreating an old Formula 1 petrol. Shell needed to combine modern fuel technology with the specific technical requirements of a car from another era while avoiding changes to the engine itself.
The F2002 remains closely associated with one of Ferrari’s most celebrated periods, and further insight into the engineering environment behind that era can be found in former engineer Rodi Basso’s account of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari years.
Four days for the F2002 compared with four years for 2026 F1 fuel
The most striking element of the project is the development time. Shell completed the bespoke F2002 fuel in just four days, drawing heavily on the knowledge and technical capabilities accumulated through its current Formula 1 programme.
The contrast with the company’s work for the new generation of F1 machinery is substantial. Development of Shell V-Power Race Fuel for the 2026 Formula 1 cars required four years and involved more than two million simulations.
Valeria Loreti, Principal Scientist for Motorsports at Shell, explained that the central objective with the F2002 was to produce a modern formulation that would behave according to the specifications around which the historic engine had been designed. She indicated that completing the task in only four days demonstrated how much expertise Shell has accumulated through its collaboration with Ferrari.
The scientists working in Hamburg were able to use technologies, tools and knowledge created during the 2026 fuel programme, then adapt them to the very different requirements of the F2002. Ferrari’s current power-unit development likewise operates in a dramatically different technical environment, with the SF-26 power unit representing the new generation of Formula 1 technology.
Why the F2002 fuel project matters
The result allows Sebastian Vettel to drive the F2002 with a fuel produced using contemporary technology while retaining the car’s original engine configuration. That was the essential target of the programme: respecting the technical limitations of the historic V10 rather than adapting the power unit to accommodate a modern product.
It also provides a striking example of how knowledge developed for present-day Formula 1 can be applied backwards to historic machinery. The same sophisticated modelling and development tools created for the 2026 fuel regulations helped Shell solve a very different engineering problem in a fraction of the time required for its modern F1 programme.
For Ferrari, the exercise connects two very different generations of Formula 1 engineering. The F2002 can return to the circuit with its historic mechanical character intact, while the fuel inside it uses renewable-derived components and expertise developed more than two decades later. More coverage of Maranello’s current and historic engineering solutions is available in our Ferrari technical analysis section.
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