Marelli’s Formula 1 Fuel Pump Technology Powers Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake technical director Jan Monchaux recently answered questions about the team’s use of Marelli's innovative new “micro lift” fuel pumps in the fuel tank of the team’s F1 race cars, where he described the benefits of this technology in a racing application.

Q: Why is it important for these pumps to be in the fuel tank?

Jan Monchaux: We start the race with more than 100 kilos (of fuel) and slowly and surely the fuel (level) drops down. You need to effectively and constantly ensure that the engine receives the fuel that it requests.

At some point, when the fuel level is relatively low, depending on how the driver will be along the circuit, like braking very hard or accelerating very hear and taking some corners very, very quickly, you will have the remaining fuel sloshing around and potentially at some point the engine will not be fed with the fuel anymore.

Q: How do these pumps avoid that problem?

Jan Monchaux: The fuel will be pushed into a corner (of the car’s fuel tank) and the engine will not get it anymore. With these micro lift pumps we have, which are in very specific positions in the fuel tank, we will make sure these are added in the geometry because we have a very complex buffering system in the fuel cell, we make sure that even when we go almost to the end of the fuel cell, at the fuel tank level, that through those pumps we make sure that the amount of fuel the engine requests is always there. It is very important for us. If it doesn’t work, the engine stops!

Q: What are the benefits of the Marelli fuel pump?

Jan Monchaux: The advantage of those new pumps for us is the size. It is smaller, it is a weight saving, which for us is key.

There are also some characteristics related to the pump itself which allows us to be (more easily) within what the FIA expects. Because we have got some regulations on the amount of fuel, quite complex systems on the amount of fuel we’re allowed to ingest constantly in the engine.

You always want to be at the limit of what is allowed. This pump, as far as I believe, is helping us to be a lot closer to what is allowed. It allows us much better control of the fuel.