McLaren reportedly looking to end UCI WorldTour team sponsorship

tbf they do produce hybrid sports cars and intend to increase the amount they make, I dont think theyll ever make practical cars or diversify into other areas themselves, but its their battery technology which currently powers Formula E,and that stuff will end up in boring practical cars,ebikes,emotorbikes of the worlds automotive manufacturers.

It's something if their battery technology powers Formula E, though motorsport, especially F1, continues to be a huge source of fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions.

And the trickle-down effect of motor racing developed technology to normal everyday vehicles is wildly exaggerated IMHO. Companies like Nissan, Toyota and others have been making real world road-going vehicles powered by batteries for some time.

There's less fuel used in one season of F1 than it takes to fill one jumbo jet

But they fill multiple Jumbo Jets every race, let alone all of those (tax free) private jets and helicopters.

They still would if the engines were electric. How much fossil fuel is burnt in a season of bicycle racing - support cars, caravan, shipping of equipment, team bus, private jets, helicopter cameras etc etc

They all pack up and fly to some races so your point isn't a good one

My point is motorsport is the lowest hanging fruit when it comes to tackling climate change, when the post I responded to claimed that "motorsport, especially F1, continues to be a huge source of fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions."

By around a factor of three as well, the amount of Fuel a 747 burns is staggering, let alone the A380 or 777

Nissan and Toyota have been heavily involved in other motorsports categories that also use hybrid power such as world endurance cars that compete at le man etc.

Mercedes F1 team have already made a commitment to being carbon neutral by (I think) the end of 2021, and as others have said, the travel of vast numbers of fans for other sports (especially football) let alone all of the teams etc will vastly outweigh the two dozen trucks and flights that get taken each year for F1.

It's a shame Mclaren are looking to leave the sport already, although it felt a little like it was the Bahranian royal family using one of the brands it owns as the sponsor, kind of like Mitchelton Scott.

The thing is, believe it or not, F1 is now an engine efficiency formula. Mercedes' latest powerplant has a thermal efficiency of over 50%, which isn't being shouted about loudly enough IMO. That's near-enough the same as the gas-fired power station that provides most of the juice to an electric car.

The aerodynamic aspect of F1 might have little to no application to a road car, but some of the mechanical innovations certainly do.

Regarding the indirect emissions of F1 and motorsports in general - we're talking about a very niche sport, with only a handful of events per year. I would have thought that moving football fans and players around produces orders of magnitude more CO2 than all motorsports combined.

srchar wrote:

Regarding the indirect emissions of F1 and motorsports in general - we're talking about a very niche sport, with only a handful of events per year. I would have thought that moving football fans and players around produces orders of magnitude more CO2 than all motorsports combined.

It is far smaller than football for sure but this article isn't about football.

Teams, organisers, fans and other associated people all fly around the world between events. They also hold testing days in between races and use very significant resources in R&D before a vehicle even turns a wheel. Much of this is as relevant to the average person's car as Chris Froome's Dogma is to someone riding to work on a 3-speed roadster with basket and chainguard. Even less so, as Froomey's frame is probably a stock item, not a one-off while Di2 does not compare with the estimated £70,000-£100,000 cost of a single steering wheel (source).

Motorsport glamourises speed and outright performance above all else. McLaren sell those knob cars to people who think that they can drive on the roads like Hamilton drives on the track. But there are also millions more in less powerful cars that like to behave the same way.

It's the same with MotoGP and rallying, both sports I've followed in the past. The manufacturers rely on wannabes trying to emulate their heroes by buying 'sporty' looking products and upgrades. And that is why on Sunday mornings the Shrewsbury bypass sounds like Donington Park (even though noisy pipes hardly make any difference to performance, they're only used by wankers) and locals and cyclists complain about close passes and excessive speed through villages.

So how much fuel does each these idiots waste compared to driving/riding sensibly? A heck of a lot. And while I'd dearly love pro cycle sport to cut its carbon footprint, motorsport has such wide-ranging detrimental effects on the environment beyond the high octane fuel used in the cars themselves.

I had heard that rallying has a more direct to public effect and trickle down in tech than F1.