Formula 1 always wants to be greener. By 2030, the premier class of motorsport should even be climate-neutral. Is the racing series really serious?
The environmental protection organization Greenpeace has criticized the sustainability projects of Formula 1 and accused the premier class of motorsport of greenwashing.
“Formula 1 sees that it has to act on climate protection, but it only does so superficially. If Formula 1 doesn’t just want to use sustainability as a fig leaf, it has to rethink the CO2 balance of the entire racing circuit. It should become more regionalized, instead of holding 24 races like next year and flying masses of people and material around the world”said Benjamin Stephan, traffic expert Greenpeace, the dpa before the start of Formula 1 in the rest of the season this weekend in the Netherlands.
Racing series wants to be climate neutral
The racing series wants to be climate-neutral by 2030. To this end, synthetic CO2-neutral fuel is to be used from 2026 onwards. At the same time, the racing calendar keeps expanding. In 2024, the record number of 24 Grand Prix should be held.
“If Formula 1 does not fundamentally reposition itself and accept that the identity of the racing series has to change, then it is not serious about climate protection. Formula 1 technologies that do not help us with the mobility turnaround send the wrong ones message. So far, the Formula 1 projects have only been cosmetic for me and are not much more than greenwashing.”, explained Greenpeace spokesman Stephan. Greenwashing is essentially understood as a fraudulent labeling with sustainability goals.
“Combustion Engines have fallen out of time”
“In the past, one argument of Formula 1 and the manufacturers has always been to develop new technologies that will later migrate to production cars and ultimately benefit everyone. However, the car industry is now developing almost exclusively in the direction of e-mobility. Combustion engines, even if they should become a bit more efficient in Formula 1 have fallen out of time”said Stephen.
“Although Formula 1 wants to use synthetic fuels in the future and also uses biofuels, these are not a solution because they are inefficient and too expensive. Biofuels cannot be produced sustainably in the necessary quantities, so they are not suitable for mass production In the current transformation, Formula 1 is decoupling itself from the rest of the world because it cannot part with the outdated combustion engine.”