Formula 1 could adopt ethanol to go with hybrid drive

Formula 1 teams are already preparing to introduce hybrid drive systems to cars beginning in 2009 and that could soon be followed by a change in fuels. Since the mid-nineties teams have been required to use fuels that were roughly comparable to pump gasoline with a maximum octane rating of 102 RON (about 97 octane for U.S. pump measurements). Formula may soon follow the path of IndyCars and the American Le Mans Series and migrate to biofuels, specifically ethanol. According to retired two-time champion Emerson Fittipaldi, Formula 1 management boss Bernie Eccelstone met last year with ethanol suppliers in Brazil. Brazilian Fittipaldi has a sugar cane plantation in his home country and is currently building an ethanol refinery to produce fuel.

All cars in the IndyCar series run on E100 ethanol. In the ALMS several teams including the GT1 Corvette C6Rs are now running cellulosic E85. The Audi R10s run on GTL diesel fuel while the rest of the field is fueled by E10.

[Source: F1-Live]