Scuderia Toro Rosso’s decision to run Honda power-units in 2018 could see them agree to a new partnership with ExxonMobil oil company.
Honda used ExxonMobil’s Esso fuel and Mobil 1 lubricants for the first two seasons of their renewed partnership with McLaren before the American oil giant moved to Red Bull Racing for 2017.
McLaren-Honda made a deal to run Castrol/BP products for 2017 while Toro Rosso mirrored its sister team Red Bull in running with Esso and Mobil. With Honda now set to power Toro Rosso’s challenge in the years to come it was unclear whether the partnership would run with Castrol/BP or continue with Esso and Mobil.
Now it’s believed that both Honda and Toro Rosso are keen to work with ExxonMobil, owing to the gains seen by Red Bull throughout 2017 in which the team believe the latest upgrade provided a gain of one grid slot depending on which circuit the team were racing on.
That will be encouraging for Toro Rosso and Honda as they embark on this new relationship, what’s more, ExxonMobil are planning to introduce a further three fuel upgrades throughout next season plus further lubricant improvements.
