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• Sustainability on F1 Racetracks Pathways School Gurgaon
  
  September 28

Formula 1 is the most popular and the highest class of international racing. It does not get more premier than this and that’s why, when a sport like this talks about going green, the world takes notice. These championships started in 1950 and recently, Chase Carey, who is the CEO of Formula 1, shared their goal of Net Zero carbon emissions by 2030 through the numerous steps they have taken towards sustainability.

Their biggest eco-friendly decision was made in collaboration with Pirelli, the provider of the wheels to all F1 teams. Pirelli gives each team a restriction on the maximum number of tires they can use per race weekend – 13 sets of tires. Also, once the race is over, the teams need to return the tires back to Pirelli. Team Pirelli then count and check every wheel, recording important information that helps them improve their performance, since wheels are a vital component of the race.

Once this is done, all the tires are compressed and sent to Pirelli’s Engineering and Logistics centre which is located in Didcot in England. Here, these tyres are shredded into extremely small pieces that can then be converted into recyclable pellets. These pellets are transported to cement factories who in turn use these pellets as a fuel in the cement manufacturing process.

When these pellets are burned to make fuel, the gases that are released have been proven to be environmentally friendly and only leave behind a fine ash as residue which is not poisonous. This entire process is done because the tires are not safe to be reused again and 24000 tires per season cannot be wasted or left unused, as it would be a huge burden on the environment.

In addition to recycling the huge number of tires, the F1 federation has also started using biofuels instead of fossil fuels in the cars, to promote carbon offsetting schemes and reduce their carbon footprint. For every racing season, 256000 tons of CO2 would be generated if they used fossil fuels. Moreover, they have also started using hybrid power units to recover and reuse energy from their exhaust gases.

Finally, many Formula 1 teams have implemented energy-efficient and sustainable processes in their infrastructure and car designs to contribute to F1’s Net Zero Carbon Emissions goal. This includes reducing their requirement of electricity across all industries and offices, as well as installing solar panels and using LED lighting systems that do not consume as much energy as traditional lighting systems.

The last step that they have taken is to set up recycle bins on and around their race tracks to not only reduce the impact single-use packaging has on our planet, but also spread awareness among the large F1 audience about the importance of recycling.

By: Anaiya Giare, MYP 4A