F1's mission to go carbon neutral

When Lewis Hamilton comments on environmental issues he is quickly shot down by critics. How can a guy who flies around the world driving a car in circles for a living promote such views - isn't it a bit hypocritical?

Formula 1 faces similar flak whenever such green questions arise. Only last week, opponents of the proposed Miami Grand Prix cited noise, fumes and so on when outlining their objections in a local authority planning meeting.

The good news is that Liberty and the FIA are well aware of motorsport's image in the wider world, and together with the teams they are working to address it. Next Tuesday, a major campaign will be launched to tackle the subject head-on, with the ambitious aim of making F1 carbon neutral by 2030.

There's no doubt that F1 has failed to tell the world about the efficiency of the hybrid engines that were introduced in 2014 and has lagged far behind Formula E in terms of generating a positive message.

Given that the whole point of the change from V8s was to align with future road car technology, and help the boards of the manufacturers justify their investments, that's a major oversight.

"We feel in today's world that the environmental issue has become a bigger part of the future," says F1 CEO Chase Carey. "And we actually think we have a great story to tell.

"We haven't done a good job about telling the story of the engine we have. Today the hybrid engine we have is the most efficient engine in the world. And we haven't told that.

"That's just the start. We are engaged with an array of parties on 'how do we continue to be at the forefront?' In some ways, F1 has been at the forefront of the automotive world - whether it's safety or other features such as engines, over the years.

"How do we be at the forefront of a combustion engine that continues to reduce carbon emissions, or other efficiencies that we think are actually going to be an important part of the world going forward?

"There's an enormous focus today on electric. Electric is part of the solution, but clearly there are issues - whether it's the cost of creating electric cars, or the like. In many ways a carbon neutral combustion engine may ultimately be more important than anything else in terms of a path forward."

"The renewable content of the fuel is increasing to 20% - it's doubling, but we know that's not enough yet" Nikolas Tombazis

Carey makes it clear that F1 should be developing fuels for wider use.

"Teams are completely supportive of this, of 'how do we stay at the forefront?' We're obviously not going to do the R&D, but what we are is a platform that can display the capability of an engine that's more environmentally friendly - whether that's energy recapture, synthetic fuels, bio fuels, hydrogen fuels, all of those capabilities.

"[F1 is also] addressing the broader environmental issues, having our events be waste free, and things like that.

"We are looking at an array of initiatives to address the costs, the future direction and the timeframe with the teams on where the engines go that respect the DNA of the sport and ensure that we continue to be at the pinnacle in terms of performance capability and where the world's going."

It's not just PR bluster. The recently announced 2021 technical regulations include proof that there's a genuine intent to make progress.

"We've taken a step for 2021," says FIA technical chief Nikolas Tombazis. "The renewable content of the fuel is increasing to 20% - it's doubling, but we know that's not enough yet.

"We are setting a fairly ambitious road map to increase that over the coming years. We are in discussion with the manufacturers and the fuel companies on how to achieve that.

"The reason we kept the same engine was largely due to the fact that what we have is the most efficient engine on the planet in terms of what percentage of the energy that is consumed as a fuel gets actually transmitted to the wheels.

"It's far more efficient than any other engine in the automotive industry. We felt that any other change we would make would take a step backwards in that respect. We felt it was the wrong direction to go."

Ross Brawn is adamant that F1 can be an important part of a much bigger picture, and he agrees that reducing the hybrid element in 2021 would have been a backwards step.

"It's true that we did start with more ambitious plans to change the engine," he says. "In a way I'm glad we didn't, because I think it's enabled us to change the focus. I think we've all seen in the past couple of years the increasing concerns about the environmental impact of the things we do.

"Refocusing the engine suppliers on how we contribute to the solutions that we need to find is a very important point. I think all the manufacturers know that there's not a single answer to the needs of the future.

"Electric cars are one part of the solution, but also finding fuels which are sustainable -renewables - can also provide part of the solution. There are a billion fuel-powered cars on this planet, and we're not going to get rid of them in the next two years, so we have to find other solutions.

"F1 can be a really strong figurehead in terms of finding those solutions and promoting them and publicising them, because there won't be one solution to the challenges we face.

"We're now presenting the power unit suppliers with a new challenge, which is to provide solutions to that problem."

It takes seven full 747s to carry all the cars and equipment to flyaway events, and often those planes are flying around empty afterwards

It's not just about the efficiency of the cars on track. If those who criticise Hamilton really dug into it, they might be shocked to learn that 315 trucks from the teams, Pirelli, F1 and the FIA travel to the European races - and the main support series account for 60 more - which represents a massive amount of diesel mileage.

A look at the 2020 calendar shows that very little thought goes into the impact of how the races are scheduled. Consider that when F1 is in Austria, its Hungarian venue Budapest is just 400km away. But instead of heading straight there, the entire circus travels to Silverstone and then back to Hungary - a round trip of 3400km.

The difference between those 375 F1 and support-event trucks travelling 400km or 3400km equates to 1,125,000km of extra fuel usage. Of course there are sound reasons why events are scheduled when they are, and the teams also have to get back to their bases to service their cars, but perhaps a little more thought could go into these things.

It takes seven full 747s to carry all the cars and equipment to flyaway events, and often those planes are flying around empty after dropping their cargo at a GP venue or when returning to pick it up. And on top of that there are the thousands of miles flown by every driver, team member and indeed journalist every year.

As Carey notes, there's also the question of waste at the races - for example, the thousands of plastic bottles used at a venue over a weekend.

And if you walk through the paddock late on a Saturday night, when parc ferme is in operation and teams have 'gone home', you hear nothing but the sound of whirring generators - typically, all lights are on in the empty motorhomes.

It's particular challenging for places like Montreal, Melbourne and Monza, all of which are public parks with specific environmental issues to deal with.

"We are already doing things that we don't communicate enough," says Canadian GP promoter Francois Dumontier. "First of all, 95% of our clients are using the subway station to get to the track, so this is a big part of it.

"And we are giving away a lot of leftover food at the end of the weekend - we gave the equivalent of 12,000 meals to charities. But we need to look at it over the long term."

F1's stakeholders are aware of the inevitable challenges as the world changes its view on what's acceptable. They do, at least, have a plan, and it will be interesting to hear the details next week. But will it be enough?

"We are all aware that we need to contribute and try to reduce our carbon footprint and have the right sustainability message," says Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. "And what we have been presented with looks very round.

"And we as a team, we are very much in the slipstream of these activities. We have done a lot already and believe we can up our game in terms of contribution."

"I think it's the right thing to do," says Racing Point's Otmar Szafnauer. "We should lead in that area. One of the objectives is for the whole thing to be carbon neutral, and the whole thing means travelling as well, so we have to do a lot of stuff to get to that point.

"We're building a new factory, and within that factory we will put systems in place so we are at least carbon neutral for everything that we do.

"What we should be looking at in the future is adding fuel cells to the trucks, so they don't burn diesel. I don't know how fast that's coming, but it's coming. You'll see big trucks that will be hybrids and less polluting."

And what about all the wastage of materials by teams? Consider how many car parts or engine components go through the system each year and how many are thrown away without even being used. The massive amounts of energy required to run windtunnels is yet another element that has to be accounted for.

Then there are the tyres left at the end of a race weekend. Because they currently can't be stripped and remounted, some 560 pristine wets or intermediates were trashed after a dry United States GP weekend at Austin - it's hoped that a standard rim for 2021 could help to address that issue.

Used or unused, any discarded tyres are crushed, returned to the UK and burned at high temperature to provide energy in an Oxfordshire cement factory, so Pirelli is trying - but think of the resources that went into making tyres that weren't even used.

"We won the Dow Jones prize for sustainability this year," says Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola. "So we pay a lot of attention to this subject, starting from how we source the natural rubber, for example, and all the production process and so on. And F1 tyres are not excluded from this flow.

"We are trying to optimise the logistics, for example shipping as much with sea freight and not air freight, because the impact is lower. So like the teams we have different kits for the fitting and balancing machines in order to sea-freight as much as possible."

All of this has to be balanced against F1's role as a source of entertainment for millions - after all, the Olympic Games, football World Cup or a Rolling Stones tour also have huge carbon footprints - and the jobs that it creates around the world.

Like the rest of us, Hamilton is waiting to hear more about Liberty's programme, but he's encouraged by the fact that something is happening.

"I think it's great that finally F1's reacting," says the world champion. "It's great to hear the new plans they have in place. Of course I'd be supportive of it.

"A lot of the impact, I won't be around for that, but I'd love to be a part of it and help move the sport forwards."