Oil company boss fills up his McLaren F1 GTR with diesel

The owner of a road-going McLaren F1 GTR has admitted he accidentally filled his ultra-rare supercar with diesel during a moment of absentmindedness.

François Perrodo, an accomplished racing driver and chairman of oil and gas company Perenco, recalled his story on Instagram, where he poked fun at himself for wondering why his McLaren wouldn’t start after being topped off with a tank of diesel when he was out for a Sunday morning drive with friends.

When the car cranked without firing, Perrodo put the problem down to the F1 simply being a temperamental race car.

He ended up calling McLaren F1 specialist Paul Lanzante, who was equally stumped as to why the V12 wouldn’t start, and called in a tow truck. At some point Perrodo realised the problem was of his own making.

“I don’t know what went through my head at that precise moment (actually, probably nothing) but I was so happy and excited I just grabbed the first nozzle available (which incidentally was blue, like 97 Ultimate [premium unleaded]!) and then I started filling the car,” he wrote.

“Firstly, had it been a modern car, the nozzle would not have fit in the hole, but the GTR is a race car with a large aperture!

“Secondly, had we been in France, the diesel nozzle would have been disgusting and smelly but this was BP Chiswick and it was as clean and dry as a petrol nozzle!”

While filling a diesel vehicle with petrol can mean thousands of dollars worth of repairs, it appears to not be quite as catastrophic doing it the other way around. Flushing the system with high-quality petrol seems to have done the trick.

Following the incident, Perrodo’s friends bought him some stickers for the F1 to remind him which fuel he’s meant to use.

“Here rests FP,” Perrodo joked on Instagram, writing his own epitaph.

“Good husband, good father, a true petrolhead, multiple WEC champion and 24h of Le Mans winner.

“But above all, the only man to have filled a McLaren F1 with diesel… Ever.”