The Mercedes‑AMG Petronas Formula One Team reported a year of accelerated progress on emissions reduction and sustainability innovation during the 2025 season, combining changes in logistics, fuels, materials, and workplace practices. The team positioned these developments as part of a longer transition toward operating one of the most sustainable organizations in professional sport, with the 2026 technical and fuel regulations viewed as a decisive moment for Formula One’s climate trajectory.

Across the season, the team focused on areas that account for a significant share of motorsport’s environmental footprint, particularly freight transport, materials sourcing, and energy use during race operations. Rather than isolated pilots, several initiatives were deployed in competitive and operational settings, signalling a shift from experimentation toward practical execution.

Reworking Logistics in a High-Intensity Global Sport

International freight, business travel, and race-week energy consumption remain the largest contributors to Formula One’s emissions profile. Against that backdrop, Mercedes-AMG Petronas implemented a series of logistics interventions during the European calendar that stood out for both scale and visibility.

For the Dutch Grand Prix, the team transported its W16 race cars using a fully electric Mercedes-Benz eActros 600. This marked the first time a Formula One team delivered race cars to a European event using electric heavy-duty haulage rather than combustion-powered trucks. While electric freight remains at an early stage for long-distance, high-load applications, the tightly scheduled and time-critical nature of Formula One logistics gave the deployment additional credibility across the paddock.

Throughout the European season, the team also expanded its use of HVO100 biofuel across support vehicles and generators. This switch avoided more than 410 tonnes of CO2e over the year. To contextualise the impact, the team equated the reduction to the annual carbon absorption capacity of approximately 33,600 mature mangrove trees, an effort to make abstract emissions data more tangible for stakeholders.

Operational changes extended beyond race logistics. At the team’s Brackley headquarters in the United Kingdom, an internal car-sharing programme reduced staff commuting by around 360,000 miles during the season. While commuting emissions are modest relative to global freight and travel, the initiative illustrated how incremental measures can accumulate when applied across a large, highly skilled workforce.

Read more: Houston Unveils Impact Houston 26 Environmental Sustainability Framework Ahead of FIFA World Cup

Proving Sustainable Materials Under Race Conditions

On the technical side, materials innovation emerged as a central theme of the 2025 season. Mercedes-AMG Petronas introduced a bio-based carbon fibre composite component on the rear brake duct wheel shields of the number 63 W16 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The component went on to complete more than 7,000 kilometres of competitive running across multiple events.

The part remained in service through a race win in Singapore, a podium finish in Las Vegas, and top-three Sprint Race results in Austin, São Paulo, and Qatar. In a sport defined by extreme heat, vibration, and aerodynamic stress, the significance lay less in symbolism and more in performance validation. The successful deployment demonstrated that alternative materials can meet the technical demands of elite motorsport when sustainability requirements are embedded into design and procurement processes.

Alice Ashpitel, Head of Sustainability at the team, noted that applying bio-based carbon fibre to a competitive car represented a meaningful test case. She argued that durable, lower-impact materials will need to scale across motorsport supply chains if the sector intends to maintain engineering credibility while reducing its environmental footprint.

Fuels, Nature-Based Projects, and Talent Pathways

Beyond logistics and materials, the team expanded its work on fuels and nature-based initiatives. In partnership with Petronas, Mercedes-AMG Petronas launched the Blue Carbon Collective to support mangrove restoration research in Brazil and Malaysia. Mangroves play an increasingly prominent role in climate strategies due to their high carbon sequestration rates and their ability to strengthen coastal resilience. The programme reflects a broader trend among corporate sponsors toward nature-based projects that deliver both climate and community outcomes.

The team also collaborated with Motorsport UK to introduce sustainable fuel into British karting. The change reduced emissions by approximately 55 percent in one championship class. Karting holds strategic importance within motorsport, as it shapes the expectations and technical culture of future drivers, engineers, and mechanics. Introducing lower-carbon fuels at this level signals a longer-term shift in how the sport defines performance and responsibility.

Explore OneStop ESG Marketplace: Carbon offset services

What It Means for Partners, Investors, and the Sport

Formula One’s commercial ecosystem relies heavily on sponsorships, broadcast rights, and technology partnerships. For brands and investors, sustainability performance is increasingly linked to reputational risk, fan engagement, and alignment with corporate climate commitments. At the same time, governments are connecting motorsport to industrial policy around advanced manufacturing, synthetic fuels, and electric mobility, raising the stakes for credible environmental performance.

Team Representative Bradley Lord described the organisation as energised by the upcoming 2026 regulations, highlighting sustainability, inclusion, and social impact as converging priorities for the next competitive cycle. In that context, the closing stages of the 2025 season served as a preview of a future in which engineering excellence and environmental performance are no longer treated as separate objectives.

From Proof of Concept to Operational Practice

Formula One’s transition to lower emissions remains complex given its global schedule and transport intensity. Yet the 2025 season at Mercedes-AMG Petronas illustrates how sustainability is increasingly framed as an engineering and operational challenge rather than a communications exercise. If similar approaches are adopted and scaled across teams, suppliers, fuels, and logistics systems, the initiatives trialled this season could mark a meaningful step toward embedding lower-carbon practices into the core operating model of elite motorsport, with implications that extend beyond the track.

Explore ESG Solutions on our marketplace - OneStop ESG Marketplace.

Keep abreast of the top ESG Events on OneStop ESG Events.

OneStop ESG Educate: Your go-to source for top ESG courses and training programs tailored to your needs.

Stay informed with the latest insights on OneStop ESG News.

Discover meaningful career opportunities on OneStop ESG Jobs.