Environmental sustainability is embedded in our business from the factory to the track and from the boardroom to the pit wall - it's at the heart of our operations at base and in the way we go racing.
Being sustainable doesn’t have to mean compromise; sustainability and performance are inextricably linked and Formula One is the perfect test lab for innovations needed to address some of the biggest environmental challenges facing the world today.
We are dedicated to creating a legacy of positive change, aiming to influence others within and outside of our sport, and setting new standards that inspire action beyond the race track.
We are progressing towards our target of Race Team Control Net Zero in 2030, through a combination of emissions reduction and a transition from gold standard carbon offsetting to carbon removal. This isn’t the end point for our investment and innovation in environmental sustainability. We have already taken bold action to address and reduce our emissions and we continue to invest in initiatives such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel, biofuel, low carbon building design, energy conservation and waste reduction that will enable us to achieve our goals.
The shift from focusing solely on high performance to delivering sustainable high performance has become a guiding principle in the way we operate, with an unwavering commitment to continually raising our standards and setting the benchmarks within our sport and outside it.
Alice Ashpitel, Head of Sustainability
As part of our commitment to transparency, we focus on three pillars of environmental sustainability: Net Zero, Responsible Resource Consumption and Ecological Protection.
We are dedicated to creating a legacy of positive change, aiming to influence others within and outside of our sport, and setting new standards that inspire action beyond the race track.
Alice Ashpitel
Our commitment to achieve Race Team Control Net Zero by 2030 remains unchanged. This year, we also signed up to The Climate Pledge and committed to Net Zero across all scopes by 2040.
Commitment to decouple growth and activity from resource consumption
Increase on-site renewable energy generation
Ongoing removal of single use plastics and growth of expertise in circular economy
Redevelopment of Brackley campus to deliver measured improvements to our energy, water and waste conservation
Commitment to protect and enhance our local habitats
Retention of FIA Three-Star Environmental Certification
Redevelopment of Brackley campus to deliver biodiversity improvements
Continuous improvement of ISO 14001 accredited Environmental Management System
As a Formula One team racing on multiple continents, we have worked tirelessly to understand the environmental impact that we have and the role that we can play in driving change.
Our initiatives and investments are aimed at addressing the impact of our operations at home, on track and in the ways we go racing.
Our carbon footprint refers to the total amount of carbon emissions that are emitted into the atmosphere due to our on and off track activities.
This includes direct emissions (Scope 1), indirect emissions from purchased energy (Scope 2), and other indirect emissions from our operations, such as travel (Scope 3).
Our carbon footprint helps us assess our success in reducing our emissions in line with our Net Zero goals. It enables us to analyse our performance and identify every possible way that we can improve. Monitoring our footprint also helps us look forward and prioritise initiatives. This data-driven approach delivers performance in every part of our team.
We seek to take bold action to significantly reduce our carbon footprint, addressing our largest sources of emissions as a priority, and using our world-class capabilities to lead technological innovation.
This means looking at our Race Team Control emissions, such as travel, that are directly associated with our activities. In addition, our longer-term targets look at projects to reduce our full Scope 1, 2 and 3 footprint.
The Climate Pledge was founded in 2019 by Global Optimism and Amazon with the objective of contributing to the achievement of the Paris Agreement by 2040, 10 years ahead of the international target.
Over 450 organisations have signed The Climate Pledge as part of a commitment to a more sustainable future.
We are proud to become the first motorsport team to sign The Climate Pledge and commit to achieving Net Zero across all Scopes by 2040.
Just as our sport operates at the forefront of automotive technology, we have a responsibility to ensure we are at the cutting-edge of innovation in sustainable technology.
We have invested in sustainable fuels to address our travel-related emissions and are exploring alternative energy sources for our factories and facilities.
Collaboration with our technical partners allows us to push the boundaries in developing advanced sustainable fuels and energy-efficient technologies.
In 2022 we became the first global sports team to announce a multi-year, multi-million euros commitment to invest in Sustainable Aviation Fuel, an industry-leading approach to reducing our Scope 3 aviation carbon footprint, through a book and claim model (SAFc) and longer-term refinery investment.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is a type of biofuel that is designed to be used in aircraft. SAF is produced from a range of renewable feedstocks such as used cooking oils, fats, plant oils, municipal, agricultural and forestry waste. Other potential sources include forestry waste, such as waste wood, and energy crops, including fast-growing plants and algae. Aviation accounts for a significant portion of our carbon footprint so for us it’s about changing our mindset and, where we must fly, we want to do it in the most sustainable way. Our investment in SAFc has significantly improved our overall environmental impact and supported our journey towards Net Zero, despite increased travel due to a growing race calendar.
In 2023, we more than doubled our investment in Sustainable Aviation Fuel Certificates (SAFc) by volume. By doing so we saved 6,695 tCO2e, compared with 2,628 tCOe the previous year, leading to a reduction in our business travel emissions in 2023 by 65%, compared to 29% in 2022.
In 2023, for the first-time, part of the SAFc secured for our team was produced and consumed within the UK market, helping to scale the industry.
Biofuels are a renewable energy source derived from biomass, which includes plants, algae, or animal waste. They can replace fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel and are considered a part of the broader strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on finite fossil fuel resources.
Following a successful pilot with HVO100 biofuel in 2022, we were able to significantly increase our HVO100 usage in 2023, achieving an emissions reduction of 67% and a saving of 339 tCO2e for our race and hospitality trucks and generators across the 2023 European season.
These trucks transport the team’s freight required for each race, while the generators power the team’s engineering and hospitality units in the Formula One paddock. The savings exceeded our initial targets of 60% emissions reduction and 200 tCO2e saved. Overall, our fleet of trucks travelled 386,000km using HVO100 biofuel (out of a total distance travelled of 460,000 km), with every kilometre travelled saving 90% of CO2e emissions versus traditional diesel.
The advancements in biofuels allow us to harness renewable biological sources to power our fleet, reducing greenhouse gas emissions significantly compared to fossil fuels whilst also improving local air quality.
We are targeting 100% biofuel usage across the logistics for our 2024 European season and will be powering our motorhome with HVO100 at all European races.
Becoming more sustainable is not only about innovation in the way we go racing but also about innovation in our operations at home on our Brackley campus.
In January 2024, we secured planning permission for the development of our Brackley campus, with sustainability at the heart of the state-of-the-art campus design.
While the initial build will have an environmental impact, which we will work hard to mitigate, our new buildings are designed to be Net Zero in operation, powered by 100% renewable energy from onsite and purchased offsite sources.
We will continue to expand lift sharing and alternative modes of transport with our team members based on feedback from our annual travel surveys.
A new parking facility, featuring a full solar array, will power our EV charging infrastructure for 64 parking bays onsite, enabling increased EV usage for our team members.
Over 1,300 team members work on our Brackley campus. Since the start of 2023, we have partnered with one of the UK’s leading car share platforms to help lower our carbon footprint and environmental impact andalsoreduce our commuting costs.
The scheme enables our team members to find colleagues to share their commute to and from Brackley, and we are already seeing the difference in reducing our emissions. Since the platform’s implementation, over 5,650 lift share journeys have taken place, saving 326,182 miles of car travel across 2023.
We also completed our first annual Travel Survey in 2023 to produce personalised travel plans for our team members, improve data collection and help identify opportunities to continue reducing our commuting emissions.
These efforts contributed to reducing our commuting emissions by 412 tCO2e in 2023.
Emissions reduction remains our primary focus, however we recognise that some sectors within our footprint may have lingering residual emissions which will require the highest quality, lasting removals to compensate for our impact.
In 2024, we have begun to invest in a blended portfolio of nature-based and permanent carbon removal initiatives that will help us meet our Net Zero targets in the short, medium, and long-term. We are supporting schemes operating in different geographies and at different scales to encourage innovation, build confidence and help make the case for market growth.
Our first tranche of projects includes a pioneering agreement with Frontier to accelerate innovation in future permanent carbon removal technologies, which will help scale the sector and secure future removal credits.
We have also made a three-year commitment to a soil carbon removal project close to the team’s headquarters in the UK, generating credits which will help compensate for part of our team’s residual carbon emissions.
These projects, breaking ground in their respective sectors, are part of our blended approach and transition towards high-integrity removals, in line with the Oxford Offsetting Principles.
We are aiming for 100% carbon removals to compensate for all residual emissions by 2040.
We are committed to building on the success of these projects and further details of our plans and additional projects can be found in our latest Sustainability Report.