Hybrid vehicles celebrated at Hybrid Horizons 2025

In February, a landmark event brought together car manufacturers, motorsport pioneers, and technical experts to explore the future of hybrid mobility. Hybrid Horizons 2025, a virtual event, powered by Castrol HYSPEC, offered a wealth of exclusive insights into the trends and advancements shaping hybrid technology. Spread across four themed zones—Motorsport, Innovation, Tech and Insight—guests tuned in from around the world to enjoy expert-led roundtables, panel discussions, and debates.

Hybrid Horizons 2025 kicked off in the Motorsport Zone, with a live session from Audi’s F1 Power Unit facility in Neuburg. As anticipation builds for Audi’s first F1 season, Stefan Dreyer, CTO for the Audi F1 Project, spoke about how the company’s glittering successes in Le Mans and Dakar made entering F1, motorsport’s global pinnacle, feel like a natural next step.

Across all Zones, motorsport was consistently characterised as a testbed for hybrid innovation. Rolf Michl, MD of Audi Sport, explained that while a one-to-one part can’t be transferred from an F1 hybrid powertrain into an Audi RS, motorsport advancements definitively improve road vehicle efficiency. The extreme conditions at Audi’s iconic Dakar Rally win, for instance, tested the limits of technologies transferable to everyday hybrid vehicles.

Experts also emphasized the importance of partnerships and co-engineering strategies. In 2022, when Audi first made the decision to move into F1, Audi contacted Castrol, which quickly established a program to develop lubricants for the new powertrain. The right liquids, Dreyer explained, can reduce lap time by a valuable half a second. Donald Smith, Sponsorship Manager at Castrol, expounded on this theme and explained that insights from the Audi R8 engine were used in developing one of the Castrol EDGE variants.

Speaking in the Innovation Zone, Jack Lambert, Research and Innovation Manager, JLR Motorsport, and Jon Harris, Chief Engineer, Engines, Transmissions and Hybrid Power Electronics, agreed that collaboration has been essential to delivering the highest level of efficiency and performance. We learned that switching between electric and combustion engine modes in hybrids leads to lower engine temperatures, increasing the risk of water vapour within the oil and fuel dilution. Collaboration with bp Castrol to deliver the appropriate lubricant has been critical. HYSPEC, Castrol’s benchmark for hybrid engine oils, adds another layer of assurance that Castrol’s fluids can meet these lubrication challenges.