Previously, WRC teams competed using sustainable fuel supplied by P1 Performance Fuels, which delivered a blend of synthetic and bio-based components. The change in fuel supplier became necessary when the German company went into administration, prompting TotalEnergies to step in as a rescue partner.
The remaining rounds of the 2025 WRC season will now be run with fuel supplied by TotalEnergies. However, the start of the partnership hasn’t been entirely smooth. A minor fuel crisis emerged at the Acropolis Rally in Greece, as the compound used by TotalEnergies reportedly caused damage to several cars.
The biggest issues appeared in the M-Sport Ford team’s cars. First, Martins Sesks needed a fuel tank replacement, and shortly after, Josh McErlean’s tank also had to be swapped. While a replacement was found for Sesks from the team’s spare parts truck, McErlean’s car had to be fitted with the tank from Jourdan Serderidis, who had earlier withdrawn due to food poisoning.
The biggest victim of the fiasco was Gregoire Munster, who had been having a solid rally until announcing late on Saturday night that he could not continue due to a technical issue. The problem turned out to be yet another fuel tank failure – but M-Sport no longer had any spares available.
“There are some things outside of our control that really hampered the weekend. And that’s the difficult part. The FIA made a statement that there’s something strange going on with this fuel that needs to be looked into. But ultimately, that certainly caused Greg’s retirement, which is a really tough one to take when the team didn’t do anything wrong,” M-Sport team principal Richard Millener confirmed to RallyJournal.com
“Martins had a fuel issue, yeah – So I think I think all teams are having some kind of issue (with the fuel).”
According to RallyJournal.com’s sources, Sami Pajari’s mysterious technical issue on Friday was also caused by the fuel. Fluid was seen leaking from Pajari’s car, but the real cause couldn’t be determined during the Friday evening service. As a result, Pajari simply left Parc Fermé on Saturday morning only to retire again immediately. The issue was identified later that day, and Pajari was able to rejoin the rally on Sunday.
Toyota team principal Juha Kankkunen confirmed RallyJournal.com’s report to be accurate, stating that fuel-related issues are now affecting nearly every team.
“I’ve heard the same things. You’d need to ask our technical director, as I don’t deal with that side of things myself. But yes, I’ve been told that this fuel is causing difficulties in some way,” Kankkunen said.
“The FIA is aware of the situation, and I believe they’ll act swiftly. These are pretty serious issues since they’re affecting all the teams. I’m sure they’ll respond quickly – although it’s not within my area of responsibility.”
