04/05/2025
NEWS STORY
Like those of us in the real world, Toto Wolff admits that the increasing move towards sustainability is likely to hit F1 hard financially.
At the recent F1 Commission it was noted that as the sport prepares to switch to 100% sustainable fuel from 2026 the costs are becoming prohibitive.
"It was raised by one of the PUMs (power unit manufacturers)," confirmed Christian Horner. "Personally, for us, it's not a significant issue," he insisted.
"There are a lot of development costs in these new sustainable fuels that being introduced," he admitted. "Maybe a certain bracket should be introduced going forward.
"Fuel is potentially one of the bigger performance differentiators. The fuel companies seem very engaged in that."
"What makes it so expensive is that the whole supply chain and energy contribution needs to be green," added Toto Wolff. "To achieve all of that, you need a certain specification of ingredients that is very expensive. And it's coming in much more expensive than anyone thought.
"So we need to look at whether there's anything we can tweak to bring the per-litre price down," he added.
The sport intends to be fully carbon neutral by 2030 not only in terms of the cars but the entire operation including trackside.
At present, the cars run on E10 fuel, which was introduced in 2022 and contains 10% ethanol, which is usually produced from crops such as corn.
From next year fuels must be from fully sustainable sources, the FIA seeking a product - from non-fossil sources - that can be used in the many road cars that still use a petrol engine.
Paddy Lowe's Zero, in which Damon Hill is an investor, provides a non-biological e-fuel, created with electrolysers, which will be used by Audi, while Aramco and Exxon Mobil are producing their own e-fuels.
Coldplay is working on the soundtrack.