FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis confirmed that FIA is planning to also introduce an environmental regulation, in addition to the already existing sporting, technical and financial ones.
FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis confirmed that FIA is planning to introduce an environmental regulation, in addition to the already existing sporting, technical and financial ones. As has been known for some time now, Formula 1 has set itself the goal of achieving net zero by 2030, to keep up with the times of a society that is increasingly aware of environmental sustainability and carbon footprint.
Tombazis confirms FIA’s intention to introduce an environmental regulation alongside existing ones
“By 2030 we have the goal of becoming carbon-neutral,” the Greek engineer said. “We are already doing some things. But they are still nowhere near enough.”
“Soon we will have the environmental regulations. We are studying them and talking about them internally, with the teams and FOM. It is our responsibility to the next generations who want to practice motor racing responsibly. It is one of our biggest challenges for the next ten years”.
As Tombazis himself admits, the future environmental regulations, which will complement the existing trio of regulations, will not be introduced immediately. However, it is FIA’s concern to already think about the future right now, to ensure that Formula 1 increasingly becomes a sustainable sport in the long term.
The top open-wheel category has already made huge strides in the area of sustainability, especially since the introduction of hybrid power units in 2014, whose technologies have paved the way for many of today’s road cars.
However, especially in the area of logistics, the transport of all the equipment needed to set up the paddocks on race weekends, including transport by sea, planes and trucks, still has a major impact on the sport’s objectives.
Materials selection will be one of the pillars of the new environmental regulation
“Materials will be one of the most important points, both from the point of view of production methods, as well as recyclability and reusability, for a more circular use,” Tombazis added.
”Carbon is one of these points. We studied natural fibres, but from a structural point of view, they were still far from meeting the tasks. If we had done a replacement, they would have added a lot of weight in the safety parts”.
Read the Italian version: F1 | La FIA introdurrà un quarto regolamento oltre a quello sportivo, tecnico e finanziario
“We studied less stressed non-structural parts, such as the engine cover. However, we had concerns about flammability. So we have not yet added them to the regulations, as they are not yet at the right level. But it is definitely a road we have to go down”.
Finally, it is yet to be understood whether this new regulation will also benefit the teams from a performance point of view. In fact, with the introduction of the cost cap in 2021, we could observe how teams were able to manage their finances better. In turn, this indirectly led to improvements in terms of lap time on track as well.
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