Oil Giant Gulf Is Weirdly Sponsoring A Formula E Team
The iconic Gulf motorsport colours have made their appearance on a number of legendary race cars, including, but not limited to, the Porsche 917, Ford GT40 and Aston Martin Vantage GT4. So it might come as a bit of a surprise to find out that it’s never adorned a single-seater racer, let alone an electric-powered machine. Well, that’s about to change this weekend, with Formula E team ‘Team Aguri’ racing two Gulf-liveried cars at the Mexico ePrix.
We know what you’re thinking: why would an international oil company be sponsoring a technology that has the potential to render fossil fuels irrelevant. Well, it turns out that Gulf is keen to get on board with the new technology early, showing that the multi-national is willing to embrace change. And, despite what the guys at Greenpeace think, it’s also identified that electric vehicles won’t be the end for oil. Frank Rutten, Gulf International’s Vice President explained:
“The move reflects the changing focus of the automotive industry, with manufacturers increasingly focusing on the development of electric and hybrid vehicles. These new vehicles will require new lubricant solutions to ensure they run at optimum efficiency and to support the evolving technologies that will provide increased range, faster charging and greater durability. The Gulf brand’s involvement in Formula E will put us at the forefront of these developments.”
As a marketing opportunity we think that this a great move for Gulf. But more than that, we’re happy to see a team that has three Le Mans 24 Hours victories, several World Sportscar Championships and a number of national championships embracing the future of motorsport.
If you want to see the car in action, the Mexico ePrix is taking place this weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Comments
that’s pretty… i don’t know what to say
On the face of it, you think smart move. But what kind of lubrication does an electric motor need? Why wouldn’t they expend their resources on electric technology? Do something innovative.
Electric motor does have fast moving parts. The bearings do need lubrication
Electric motors don’t need lubrication.
These vehicles will still need oil for any sort of diff(s) power steering and that sort of stuff I’d imagine
someone in the pr team is going to get fired
I’m not really bothered because it looks hot
Do be honest its really not that weird. Look how much free good publicity they are getting.
It’s far, far away from free my friend…
Got to make the move into an emerging market early, it’s a smart move while fossil fuels will eventually be replaced as they pointed out petroleum based products are not going anywhere anytime soon
Nobody watches Formula E anyway.
well the real story behind this move is the mexican petrol market.
The E prix this weekend will be held in Mexico city´s race track, same that the F1 use, but with big layout changes.
here in Mexico we have only one brand of petrol stations to choose from named PEMEX owned by the mexican government, we dont have the right of choise. The distributors (petrol stations) are owned by private sector companies operating as franchises.
From 2017 on mexican government has opened to “free” market, this means that we will have all sort of brands in the market, like europe or the US, this is where GULF, and all the others come in to play.
As you can see the car is sponsored by telcel and Gulf, so lets just think….New market for oil companies in asociation with the richest man on earth Mr. Carlos Slim, owner of telcel, this means that Mr. Slim have shared interests with Gulf, and as far as mexican business operates it will not come as a surprise that the owner of all Gulf operations in mexican territories will be Mr. Slim.
I mentioned “free” market, but this will be a lie for us, the mexican consumers, this is because the state held company Pemex will be controlling the markets minimum price, otherwise this company will not be able to compete with the foreign companies.
sorry for the long post
don’t be sorry for the long post, it was really informative and a good read. besides i think you’re right.
Oil companies are the leading buyers of solar panels. They are in the energy business. Crude oil is a great source of energy. If that energy source ever becomes uneconomical, they will move on to the next most profitable source. Biodiesel, solar energy, it doesn’t matter.
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