F1 to organise future calendars by region to cut down climate cost

Formula 1 says it is planning for future calendar regionalisation in an effort to cut down on emissions and make the sport more sustainable.

F1 is continuing on its push to be more environmentally friendly with a goal of being carbon net zero by 2030. In line with this, all cars from 2026 will run on fully sustainable fuels and three times the electrical power.

But despite these measures, the racing on track is not the sport’s biggest cause of emissions with travelling to and from races proving to be far more costly when it comes to the impact on the climate.

The 2023 calendar is record-breaking in terms of the number of races but also has many fly away events and grands prix close to one another on the schedule but not geographically.

The Miami Grand Prix is after the race in Baku, Canada is between European events Spain and Austria while there is a run of Japan, Qatar and then the US scheduled. Following the inaugural race in Las Vegas, teams will travel more than 8,000 miles to the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

To combat this in future seasons, F1 says they have begun planning for regionalised blocks to cut down on travel. In theory this will mean races that are close together geographically will also be close together on the calendar.

In an update on the previous 12 months, F1 president Stefano Domenicali said the sport remained committed to making itself more sustainable and increasing diversity.

“We are committed to making Formula 1 more sustainable and increasing diversity and opportunity across this incredible sport,” said Domenicali as part of an update on how F1 has developed over the last 12 months.

“We remain focused on these very important objectives and have continued to make strong progress in 2022.

“We have delivered important initiatives on our journey to be net zero carbon by 2030, expanded our scholarship programme for underrepresented groups and announced the F1 Academy that will provide opportunities for young female drivers to begin their journeys to the highest levels of our sport.

“We are proud of what we are delivering, but we know we must continue to make progress and deliver positive lasting change for Formula 1.”

In addition, F1 will be redesigning freight containers to allow the use of more fuel-efficient aircraft and will commit to more remote broadcasting to lessen the need for freight travel.

The sport also said they have been engaging with race promoters to create a sustainability plan for each event such as encouraging public transport for fans to the circuit.

Formula 1 will also donate surplus food to local charities after the race.

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