Source: formula1.com
This week, we will take a look at Formula One, or F1 for short. Besides the general pollution that major sporting events cause as covered in past blog posts, some may have concern that the sport itself may pose significant threats to the environment’s air quality — especially because of the emissions from cars running on fuel. Surprisingly, according to a BBC article (Benson, 2019), “Of the 256,551 tonnes of carbon that F1 calculated it emitted as a sport in 2018, only 0.7% was from the cars themselves.” In fact, the same article reported that the carbon footprint of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was recorded at 2.8m tonnes, or 10 years’ worth of F1 seasons! This makes F1 seemingly one of the least pollutive major sporting event.
Source: Forbes
You may wonder why I have singled out Lewis Hamilton in the title of this post. This is not just because I have a selective bias towards this man, but coincidently, he is an active advocate for the environment and has contributed a significant amount to the greening of the Motorsports industry. He even became vegan in 2018, expressing that it is “the only way to truly save our planet” (Barr, 2020).
The six-time F1 Champion has undoubtedly rise in popularity, power, and influence not only in the industry, but globally, over the past decade or so (Time, 2020). Though he may not have been the one to revolutionise F1 to reach a satisfiable level of green (perhaps, yet?), he had been very vocal in his hopes for a change. With his large following, he can even be considered as the one who brought more viewership to the FIA World Championships (another name of F1). He shows how sportsperson can have the agency to affect change in their sport, to advocate for the environment such as by reducing carbon footprint or pollution.
In the beginning of this month, Honda had announced that they would be leaving F1 at the end of the 2021 season to refocus their resources into zero-emission technology (Rencken and Southwell, 2020). Hamilton had commented that this showed that F1 still has “a long way to go” with regard to environmental issues.
But, what exactly has F1 and the industry done or not done enough to allay the concerns of Hamilton and other environmental advocates, even when it seems to be producing much lesser than other major sporting events? Natasha will be answering this in the next post, so stay tuned!
Till next time,
Eunice
References
Barr, S. (2020). Lewis Hamilton says going vegan ‘eradicates’ energy dips, Independent, 21 January. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/lewis-hamilton-vegan-training-formula-one-plant-based-food-a9293696.html [Accessed on 19 October 2020]
Benson, A. (2020). Australia bushfire: F1 monitoring fire before start of new season, BBC, 7 January. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/51020847 [Accessed on 19 October 2020]
Rencken, D. and Southwell, H. (2020). Honda exist shows F1 needs a “more positive impact on the planet” — Hamilton, Racefans, 8 October. Available at: https://www.racefans.net/2020/10/08/honda-exit-shows-f1-needs-a-more-positive-impact-on-the-planet-hamilton/ [Accessed on 19 October 2020]
Time. (2020). Lewis Hamilton: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 [online]. Available at: https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888433/lewis-hamilton/ [Accessed on 19 October 2020]