WHO WE ARE

A rich history

As a brand, we have always gone further, as ours is history driven by innovation. Founded by Charles “Cheers” Wakefield, Castrol’s reputation for breaking new ground spans more than a century. It was Wakefield himself who took an interest in developing lubricants for two newly emerged motorised contraptions, the automobile and aeroplane, in around 1899. It was a visionary idea that went beyond anything that had ever been seen before. And a pioneering approach that would go from strength to strength over the next hundred years.

It was our sponsorship that was the first to appear at competitive aviation events, auto races and land speed record attempts – record attempts we helped break 21 times. It was Castrol lubricants that powered the launch of the Queen Elizabeth II, the world’s largest ocean-going passenger liner. It was our oil that helped Concorde reach speeds of up to Mach 2. We’ve been the long-trusted technical partner for the world’s most demanding motorsport teams and it’s that partnership that drove Ford to success in the GTE Pro class at Le Mans in 2016. Our lubricants have sent NASA’s shuttles into space and the Curiosity rover to Mars. Yet still, we push boundaries. We continue to go beyond.