Mercedes F1 team to shift to biofuel

Mercedes-AMG Formula One team PETRONAS and its logistics partners are working to deliver a fully biofuelled European season following a successful trial in 2022 that saw an 89% reduction in CO₂ freight emissions.

The sport’s regulatory bodies have approved sustainability exclusions in the Financial Regulations, allowing opportunity for innovation in sustainability. The first of these projects will be a fully biofuelled European season.

Datuk Sazali Hamzah, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of PETRONAS Downstream, said, “This is a testament to our commitment to supporting the motorsport’s ambition towards a sustainable future by leveraging collaborative efforts with our partners including Neste. Together with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, we will continue to progress in the right direction by perfecting our technology to meet the technical challenge presented by the 2026 power unit regulations.”

Over nine races across Europe, the team’s fleet of Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks, which transport all the freight required for each race, will refuel with HVO100, a second-generation biofuel. Their departure points will be the UK and Germany, with each truck covering between 9000 and 10,000 km travelling through Europe. By powering each truck with HVO100, the team aims to reduce the emissions for each kilometre covered by 89%.

The team has also announced its aim to achieve emissions reduction of over 60% and to save over 200 t of CO₂, with a full analysis of the project to be published at the end of the season in November.

Mercedes’ race base generators, which are used to power its engineering trucks once set up in the Formula One paddock, will also be biofuel-powered from mid-season onwards.

Alice Ashpitel, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team head of sustainability, said this is a “key pillar” in reaching net zero, though there are still significant supply challenges in sourcing HVO100 across Europe.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, said sustainable fuels are central to reducing the team’s largest sources of emissions and achieving net zero by 2030.