Vettel slams F1's 'green' strategy

Jan.6 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel has hit out at Formula 1 for not doing enough amid the new ‘green’ environmental trends.

“Formula 1 should channel its competitive spirit, ambition, knowledge and speed of development so that relevant technologies are developed for everyone,” the quadruple world champion told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

The sport switched to hybrid engines in 2014, and the next push is for biofuels and carbon neutrality. But Vettel feels that Formula 1 is still not doing enough.

“The decision to run on 10 percent biofuel in 2022 is nothing new. Why is Formula 1 lagging behind?” the German said.

“There is a great opportunity for the sport to authentically secure its existence, but it is being ignored,” Vettel alleges.

He said the argument that doing more is too great an expense amid the covid crisis is not convincing.

“Formula 1 has always cost a lot of money,” said the 33-year-old. “And the competition and ambition have always opened enough wallets.”

He suspects that political interests are the hurdle to greater ‘green’ progress.

“That seems to be the case,” said the 2021 Aston Martin driver. “In any case, the gravity of the situation is not well understood. I find that frustrating. We know better and we still don’t do it.

“This is how we seal our disappearance into irrelevance,” Vettel insisted.

“Politicians should set the framework conditions in such a way that all the things that harm us in the long term are made so unattractive that nobody counts on them anymore. At the moment, the opposite is still the case.

“Applied to Formula 1, it means to create incentives for beneficial innovations instead of clinging to the old things just because they continue to pour a lot of money, fame and prestige into some people’s pockets.

“We are primarily an entertainment company, but there are things that simply no longer fit into our time. In my opinion, we should start moving forward quickly.

“I believe that we have ignored the topic of environmental technology as an area of development for far too long,” said Vettel.