The F1 circus flies around the globe three times – a researcher criticizes the series’ greed for money, Valtteri Bottaskin sees room for improvement: “It doesn’t make sense”

Let’s fly three times around the globe and we spend a total of a week on the plane.

What is it really about?

From this year’s race calendar of Formula 1, the king of motor sports.

10 teams and 20 drivers are touring the world this year, a record number. 20 countries in 9 months and a total of 23 competitions.

Although only 22 races will be run, because the Imola GP in Northern Italy was canceled due to heavy rain, but the teams have already made it partially to the venue.

This year’s Competition Calendar of the F1 series has received a lot of criticism. This week sees yet another seemingly illogical leap, as the F1 circus rotates to compete in Canada in the middle of the European Games.

– F1 is really carefully planned, but the calendar doesn’t look logical on the map, Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh states.

In 2019, F1 published its goal to be carbon neutral in 2030. However, now the F1 calendar moves from place to place even more than last year.

Despite the fact that Last year, F1 also announced rationalization of the calendar as one way to reduce the carbon footprint. However, that has not happened yet.

If you count the flight kilometers this season directly from one place to another, they will be more than 130,000. Last year, the kilometers in the air were more than 115,000.

These flight kilometer numbers still remain in the lower deck, because most of the time the F1 circus does not travel directly from one race location to another.

However, the aforementioned 130,000 kilometers are, for example, three times around the globe.

Travel kilometers are doubled

Three times around the globe is still enough, because the F1 circus does not run with the power of one plane.

In the F1 series, something is constantly being moved either by plane, ship or land.

The most important things related to racing are transported by airplanes, while the less critical ones are taken from one place to another by ships or trucks.

Corporate partner of the F1 series usually uses five different Boeing 777 aircraft for long-distance races. If there are lower class races on the weekend, there can be seven machines. In the intra-European competitions, the aim is to transport most of the goods by trucks.

About 1,400 tons of cargo is transported from one race to another.

On top of this is the travel of drivers and staff. Out of every ten F1 teams, there are about a hundred people working on site at the games.

There are also plenty of people from the F1 series organization and the international motorsport federation Fia traveling from race to race.

All those traveling from one F1 race to another do not use the same planes, but if they did, at least three Boeing 777 airplanes would be required for the number of passengers.

Researcher: “Formula 1 is not serious”

This year’s F1 calendar has been criticized precisely because Formula 1 has set the goal of being carbon neutral by 2030.

Strictly speaking, F1 uses the term net zero in its efforts to be carbon neutral. Net zero means that emissions may occur, but they are fully compensated.

– Net zero by 2030 means that we will reduce our emissions by at least 50 percent, F1 series environmental director Ellen Jones said For F1 media at the beginning of June.

According to the F1 series’ own readings, the series’ own carbon footprint in 2018 was approximately 256,000 tons. In other words, it would correspond to the annual carbon footprint of almost 25,000 Finns.

In the series’ own reports, logistics and travel accounted for the largest part of the carbon footprint of the F1 series, i.e. almost 73 percent. Driving yourself on race weekends plays a very small role in emissions.

Since setting its target, F1 has boasted how it has been able to reduce its carbon footprint.

Most recently, the management of the F1 series said before the previous race in Barcelona, that it has been possible to reduce the carbon footprint by 17 percent from the 2018 reading. Last year’s carbon footprint would therefore have been 212,000 tons.

Researched sports and its environmental effects Toby Miller not convinced reading. According to Miller, F1 has focused on the small arms when it has started to cut its carbon footprint.

According to Miller, the biggest problem, i.e. travel and logistics, has not been touched at all or very little.

– Formula 1 is not serious about cutting its core, i.e. traveling around the world chasing money. Formula 1 expands regardless of where it goes. Regardless of human rights or freedom of the press, Miller piles on.

– Money distribution, dollar distribution or euro distribution always supersedes thinking about environmental effects. You can’t rely on Formula 1’s model to become carbon neutral at all if you don’t solve issues related to travel.

Miller sees that the environmental actions of the F1 series do not focus on the issue itself, but on its edges.

– They don’t take the bull by the horns. Until they don’t, the rest is a shambles, Miller charges.

Miller is currently a visiting professor at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. In 2018, he wrote a book about sports and greenwashing.

Miller has also commented in the international media on themes related to formula one and environmental issues, such as for example, for the Guardian, the cancellation of the Imola GP due to floods.

Miller fears that the F1 series’ goal of reaching net zero by 2030 is greenwashing.

– It is not realistic unless they break their current standards, Miller emphasizes.

A more limited Competition Calendar as a solution

In the big picture, the carbon dioxide emissions of the entire world’s air traffic correspond to a few percent of all human-caused emissions.

Miller reminds that formula one is about an international sports series that lasts almost the whole year and its commitment to responsibility.

According to the researcher, the F1 series should revolutionize their design if they are serious about achieving their environmental goals.

– There must be a more limited season in terms of where and when to compete. The season should be organized in such a way that it is possible to travel by trains and ships. You could do that if your calendar was more regionally focused, Miller states.

A British researcher proposes a model where one continent would be one point on the calendar. In a certain part of the year we would compete in Europe, in a certain part of the year in Asia and so on. Then, according to Miller, it would be possible to utilize trains and ships. Of course, the calendar should also be more spacious than it is now.

– This is the only way they could be carbon neutral by 2030, Miller describes.

Valtteri Bottas admits the problem

Finland’s only F1 driver at the moment Valtteri Bottas admits that there is work to be done in the competition calendar of the series.

– It’s always been the case that the F1 calendar doesn’t make sense when to go anywhere, Bottas says to Urheilu.

Alfa Romeo manager of Bottas’ team Beat Zehnder couldn’t help but wrap my head around the Canadian race for Auto Motor und Sport in January.

– These will be the most expensive cargo flights of the year. We pay almost a million just for freight costs, Zehnder lamented in a magazine interview.

According to Auto Motor und Sport, the teams have been disappointed because they had not been asked anything in the planning of the calendars, and concerns had not been heard.

– The calendar could not have been made any more expensive, Zehnder summed up the situation.

However, Bottas has now heard that there could be more changes to the race calendar for next year. According to him, people in the F1 series are aware of the illogicality of the calendar.

– The competition calendar is certainly quite high on the list of the F1 series, which needs to be improved. I believe that in the future we will see better decisions regarding that, Bottas states.

The expert does not believe in quick change

The most special bounces on the calendar are seen between the North American Games.

Earlier in the spring, the F1 circus flew directly from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to compete in the United States in Miami for the very next weekend. After that we returned to Europe again.

At the end of the season, on the other hand, we bounce around the novelty competition in Las Vegas. F1 has just arrived in North America to race in Austin, Texas in October. Then we go to Mexico and visit Brazil in Sao Paulo before coming back to the west coast of the United States in Vegas.

From the casino city, we will also fly to Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, for the next weekend to end the season. In the last part of the season, the distance to be covered by airplanes will be more than 13,000 kilometers.

Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildhin in my opinion, the background of the illogical calendar is the previously made commitments with the competition organizers.

Mildh points out, for example, that it is difficult to move traditional European competitions. Among other things, the Monaco GP, which has been held since the beginning of the series since the 1950s, is rooted in a specific time at the end of May, as is the previous season’s race in Barcelona.

In Mildh’s opinion, F1 does not necessarily want to have three races in a row in the United States either, because the risk could be that the public gets bored.

– The American continent is huge. There are enough people. But before three races in a row, you have to be sure that you don’t spoil the market and have too many races in the same area in a row, says Mildh.

The United States is currently in a special position on the calendar. According to Mildh, the organization of the F1 series itself has made significant investments so that Las Vegas will return to the series in November after a 40-year break.

– America currently plays an important role for the Formula Ones. They try to organize competitions there by any means. Getting into the hearts of Americans is a formula for the number one is valuable commercially and athletically. That’s where we’re going at the moment at any cost, Mildh estimates.

However, the expert sees, like Bottas, that a big change is needed in the calendar and the F1 series is also forced to react.

The tight F1 competition calendar puts a strain on people too. Aston Martin Sporting Director Andy Stevenson reminded in Auto Motor und Sport, that the staff is tough when competing three weekends in a row. Stevenson stated that the same level of performance can no longer be expected from the mechanics and everyone will be out at the end of the season.

However, according to the expert, the work of changing the calendar is not easy.

In Mildh’s opinion, there will be a lot of friction between the competition organizers about the competition calendar. His eyes turn to the CEO of the series to Stefano Domenicali.

– We will certainly make a lot of different scenarios, how the season should go, so that it would be reasonable. However, I don’t think that change will happen very easily. The series includes such a motley number of different countries, where things don’t go the same way. Many things need to be thought about before changes start to appear, says Mildh.