The Formula One Teams Association [FOTA, whose membership comprises all current Formula One teams] is pleased to announce today that Formula One has inaugurated a comprehensive and externally audited carbon emissions reduction programme.
Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
If it was just a "LOOK!! F1 is GREEEEEEN!" exercise I think FOTA would also point to F1 being carbon neutral since 1997 (and that includes the transport of the cars, crews and fans!)
domdogger wrote:in the name of lowering emissions FOTA say they might reduce downforce by 50% and have 17" wheels.
people will turn up in caterham/lotus sevens and be wanting to race.
=D> =D> =D>
There is absolutely no comparison between a caterham/Lotus 7 and an F1 car even with 50 percent less downforce.
The comment is completely irelevent to the thread.
domdogger wrote:in the name of lowering emissions FOTA say they might reduce downforce by 50% and have 17" wheels.
people will turn up in caterham/lotus sevens and be wanting to race.
=D> =D> =D>
There is absolutely no comparison between a caterham/Lotus 7 and an F1 car even with 50 percent less downforce.
The comment is completely irelevent to the thread.
To some perhaps Chris.
It was definitely a sentiment and not a technical suggestion.
The FOTA have just announced a raft of intentions aimed at reducing F1s Carbon footprint. They are aware of the seriousness of this subject and that the very future of our sport relies on getting these issues correct.
IMO moderators should at least treat off topic comments on this subject in the same way they do elsewhere on the forum.
The very concept is a joke.
1. developing new technology will increase the carbon footprint due to the energy used in development/testing.
2. F1 cars are race cars. run at max RPM etc. no road car is driven like this, F1 has nothing to do with road cars. just as the red bull air race has nothing to do with ryanair.
3. no other sport has the environment as "its responsibility" what's the carbon footprint of soccer during a weekend in the uk.
4. F1 fans are F1 fans, you will not attract new fans by using green tech. who is going to show up and go " Wow lotus won the race using just 4kg of fuel. If they dont have an interest in F1 tech now they wont really care what colour it is.
5. F1 needs to cop the hell on! there are more detrimental things to the sport than evil carbons. ticket prices, teams not understanding the rules, complete lack of consistency of implementation of punishments, lack of web interaction ( A1 had a far better web experience for races), too much political crap and a lack of "sporting" behaviour.
bjpower - You forget that all businesses will need to reduce carbon footprint for tax reasons. Also, F1 needs to reduce its operational costs to meet reduced budgets. Those are two very hard financial reasons for scaling down their activities.
A softer reason is the need to be seen to focus technological development on effective use of energy, the "less is more" route. That makes F1 appear more attractive to sponsors.
To be honest I think this is driven mainly by a public mood for austerity caused by the recession. I'm afraid to say that the [climate change/pollution/peak oil]* concerns are probably secondary, even though they could have a bigger impact on life as we know it.
*take your ideaological pick, they all mean we need to use less energy
Was unaware of the tax reasons, but wont developing new techs increase the operational costs and carbon emissions and hence tax as well?
during a recession!
I dont buy the sponsorship argument. If a company thinks it will make x million from increased sales by sticking its logo on the devils ass - it will.
Companies have no other loyalty than to profits. increase the fans and you will get sponsors.
I have no issues with green tech. just think its the wrong time and place
Unfortunately there is no right or wrong time and place for 'green tech'.
It is now firmly a part of the human experience and unavoidable.
It will definitely become 'the' area of maximum interest to sponsers.
The truth is that no one connected to F1 and earning a living from it can afford to ignore energy efficiency and alternate sources of performance.