The first practice session may have taken pace for the Dutch F1 Grand Prix at Zandvoort, but the concerns environmentalists have expressed about the sport have not escaped attention.
As Reuters reports, Dutch environmentalists have spent the last couple of years campaigning to keep F1 away from the beach resort, arguing that its dunes and natural scenery are at odds with a sport famous for being a gas-guzzling pursuit.
The report added that those campaigners may have been disappointed to see the likes of Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes rolling into town, but might equally have been pleased by the fact that ordinary cars have been banned from the resort, which has just two access roads. Instead, tens of thousands have arrived by bike or by train.
Speaking to Reuters, circuit director Robert van Overdijk said: “Mobility was one of our main concerns once it became clear Formula One could return to Zandvoort. “
He added: “It is great to see that the plan we imagined over two years ago works and pays off.”
While the 300,000 ticket holders to the first Dutch Grand Prix in 36 years could flock to see local favourite Max Verstappen in an eco-friendly way, it is a reminder of how much F1 needs to still do to meet its own goals of becoming a sustainable sport, not just because of the fuel used in races, but in transporting people, cars and equipment from country to country.
The sport has already announced its own sustainability drive to become net zero carbon by 2030, something future precision components technology will play a major role in achieving.
This will certainly not just be about the cars themselves, but other technological elements including the broadcasting of races.
It used the British Grand Prix to introduce a range of sustainability measures in its broadcasting, including through using renewable energy to power its remote broadcast facility in Biggin Hill. The plan is to use similar measures when broadcasting other races.
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Motor racing-Formula One in Zandvoort: No cars allowed (msn.com)