Toto Wolff urges F1 to spearhead the fight against climate change

Achieving environmental sustainability while parallelly ensuring maximum performance has been established as a priority. With rising concerns of motorsport’s impact on the climate, it is evident that steps must be taken to combat its adverse effects. Toto Wolff believes that F1 must spearhead the fight against climate change.

Speaking to RacingNews365, Mercedes boss Wolff said, “I think we’re seeing climate change is real. In F1 we need to use the technology that we’re developing in terms of hybrid engines, sustainable fuel [and] reducing our emissions when travelling.” Wolff holds the belief that F1 teams should serve as examples when it comes to investing in green technologies throughout all aspects of their operations. This is particularly important, considering numerous sponsors are mindful of their environmental impact.

“This is where we need to play the role model, and we hope that everybody will need to follow in F1 because you can’t attract sponsors anymore – that have responsibility to emissions, to sustainability – without the team having a viable story,” he said. He added, “We are trailblazing in this. I think we are investing the most far out investment [compared to] everybody else here on the grid. And I think this is the contribution we need to make.”

Advocating for steps already taken, he said, ” Our trucks now run with sustainable diesel and we’ve reduced emissions by 90% for all European races. We are paying up big amounts of money for sustainable aviation fuel when we transport goods and people, and that goes into the many millions that we invest.”

Related: Sebastian Vettel’s carbon-neutral fuel source engaged in negotiations with teams in prospect of being F1 supplier

The next step must be sustainable fuel in F1 while parallelly ensuring the optimal performance

The upcoming direction for F1 involves a transition towards sustainable fuel. P1 Fuels technology gained considerable recognition during the British Grand Prix in the previous year. The company attracted attention as Sebastian Vettel demonstrated in Nigel Mansell’s legendary 1992 championship-winning car, fueled by P1 Fuels’ innovative fossil-free fuel.

Sebastian Vettel has been actively involved in several endeavors to promote environmental sustainability. The co-founder of P1 Fuels, the company Vettel advocates for, has revealed that they have begun engaging in collaborations with selected suppliers of F1 teams to explore potential partnerships. Their primary goal is to transition F1 to utilizing completely sustainable fuel by 2026. P1 Fuels is determined to enhance the sport’s sustainability by establishing these future alliances with potential participants.

Currently, F1 employs E10 fuel, which contains 10% renewable ethanol. However, F1 is actively advocating for further advancements. Implementing sustainable fuel will not contribute to the overall carbon levels in the atmosphere while enabling the existing combustion-engined cars to remain in motion. This initiative is crucial to F1’s commitment to achieving Net Zero Carbon by 2030, a commendable objective that requires collaboration among manufacturers, teams, promoters, and partners.

Thus, as Toto Wolff said, with the environment being the priority in the coming years, F1 could potentially successfully transition into a sport that checks the same objectives but also has a minimalistic impact on the environment.

In case you missed it:

• Formula 1 takes GIANT step towards their net zero by 2030 commitment amidst rumors of Sebastian Vettel’s comeback as Sustainability Manager
• Sebastian Vettel states F1 must “not get lapped” in its push for sustainability

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