Sebastian Vettel fears for F1's future as governments combat climate change

17 July 2023 , 19:16

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Sebastian Vettel is worried about climate change (Image: Robert Szaniszló/Getty Images)

Sebastian Vettel has urged Formula One to take its climate pledges seriously as Europe experiences a major heat wave.

Large parts of southern Europe are currently on fire, with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees. Climate scientists have warned that such heat waves will only become more common if the current trend continues and no meaningful action is taken to reduce carbon emissions.

Vettel retired from driving in F1 last year and has become an advocate for climate action in the sport. The 36-year-old appeared at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on Sunday, where he gave an impassioned speech about the need for F1 to take action.

Flooding saw the Italian Grand Prix cancelled in May, while wildfires also threatened last month’s Canadian Grand Prix and Vettel believes that motor racing could become vulnerable in the near future as governments search for ways to reduce emissions.

“You need to recognise that the world is changing and it does have an impact on our lives,” he said. “And it’s not so much I think that the threat or risk that people that might glue themselves onto the track on a race race day or maybe at Goodwood.

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“I think it’s more a threat that at some point governments will be looking at things that they can cut and ban and maybe motorsport is a threat and might be one of them. That’s how far I’m thinking.

“And I don’t want that to happen, to be clear, because I think it’s a great sport. You will see a lot of people turning up today, loving to be here, having a blast, so it will be a shame if we would lose that because we just simply can’t afford it anymore.

The Italian Grand Prix was cancelled due to flooding (Luca Bruno/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

“When you look at something maybe as boring as a carbon budget and you just say: OK, well, these sort of events fall off first.'”

F1 has committed to becoming net zero by 2030, yet Vettel is concerned that such a pledge is merely window dressing. “It’s set as a goal so I think you have to do everything to achieve that goal. If you fail, you need to explain and so on,” he explained.

“So I think that it’s nice to put up a slogan, but what does it mean if you don’t stick to it and if you don’t take it serious?

“I can make a lot of claims, but how serious am I if I then turn around and say I didn’t make it? So I think it is very serious and I think it should [receive] all the effort possible to put in, all the money that it takes – let’s be honest – to invest to make it happen.”

Felix Keith