The official FIA Safety Cars are set to run with sustainable fuels for the remainder of the 2024 Formula 1 season and beyond – starting at this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.
Incorporating sustainable fuels in this year’s Safety Cars ensures F1 keeps on pace with its widespread introduction of 100% sustainable fuels in the F1 cars themselves for the 2026 season.
Moreover, the implementation of sustainable fuels tallies with the sport’s overall objective of being a carbon-neutral entity.
The official Safety Cars provided by Mercedes-AMG and Aston Martin Lagonda will run on a 40% sustainable fuel mixture.
This is a significant step on from the E10 fuel introduced to the F1 power units for the 2022 season, which incorporates 10% renewable ethanol.
Still, on-track vehicles account for just 1% of the sport’s overall carbon footprint and significant advances are needed elsewhere.
These efforts comprise a more geographically organised calendar to reduce air mileage and incorporate EV haulage across the European leg of the season.
However, despite the move to incorporate sustainable fuels in the FIA Safety Cars amounting to a small environmental gain, the implications are far wider.
Using F1 as a platform, the lessons learned with sustainable fuels can be applied to the wider automotive community.
With the global population still predominantly running on internal combustion engines, sustainable fuels can be of huge benefit when it comes to slashing carbon emissions on a worldwide scale.
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