Climate protection in Formula 1? “Not much more than greenwashing”

The environmental protection organization Greenpeace has criticized Formula 1's sustainability projects and accused the premier class of motorsport of greenwashing. “Formula 1 sees that it has to take action to protect the climate, 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 carbon footprint 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 before the start of Formula 1 for the rest of the season this weekend in the Netherlands. The racing series wants to be climate neutral by 2030. From 2026 onwards, synthetic CO₂-neutral fuel will be used. At the same time, the racing calendar is expanding more and more. A record number of 2024 Grand Prix are scheduled to be held in 24. New fuels cannot be used by the average consumer “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 transition send the wrong message. So far, for me, Formula 1's projects have only had a cosmetic character and are little more than greenwashing," explained Greenpeace spokesman Stephan. Greenwashing is essentially a fraudulent label with sustainability goals. “An argument from Formula 1 and the manufacturers in the past has always been to develop new technologies that later go into production cars and ultimately benefit everyone. However, the automotive industry is now developing almost exclusively towards e-mobility. Combustion engines, even if they were to become a little more efficient in Formula 1, are outdated,” said Stephan. “Formula 1 wants to use synthetic fuels in the future and also uses biofuels, but 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. At the latest in the current transformation, Formula 1 will decouple itself from the rest of the world because it cannot separate itself from the outdated combustion engine.”

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Climate protection in Formula 1? “Not much more than greenwashing”

Formula 1 wants to become ever greener. The premier class of motorsport should even be climate-neutral by 2030. Is the racing series really serious?

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