16/07/2021
NEWS STORY
While admitting that F1 is unlikely to move away from hybrid power units in the short term, Ross Brawn says that hydrogen is being considered as a potential alternative fuel.
The pinnacle of motorsport is at a crossroads, for as more and more cities and countries impose bans on the internal combustion engine and more manufacturers switch to hybrid and electric vehicles, Formula One risks becoming an unwelcome dinosaur.
Unwilling - indeed legally unable - to go all-electric, the sport is considering its options, and having committed to be carbon neutral by 2030, Ross Brawn admits that a switch to hydrogen is one of the options being considered.
"Maybe hydrogen is the route that Formula 1 can have where we keep the noise, we keep the emotion but we move into a different solution," he tells the BBC.
With discussions already underway in terms of the next generation power unit, due to be introduced in 2025, Brawn rules out a move away from hybrid anytime soon.
"If you're lecturing to an empty chamber you're not getting any message across," says Brawn. "You have to engage the fans and the reason they come is they want to see great cars, great drivers doing battle.
"We have a one-and-a-half-hour race, we have 1,000 horsepower cars, we are the pinnacle of motorsport. You can't get that bang without fossil fuels," he adds.
Asked about all-electric, Brawn believes that it will be some time before electric race cars can deliver the power and performance that F1 demands.
"We don't want drivers looking at power conservation modes and trying to make the battery last long enough to get to the end of the race or saving the battery up so in the last five laps, they can really go for it. That doesn't seem to engage the fans," he insists.
However, he admits that there is increasing pressure on F1 to prove its commitment to sustainability rather than merely talking about it.
"We can't have a sport which is seen as a dinosaur and out of step. We will always be mindful of that," he says.
Many have argued that the emissions from the cars over race weekends are miniscule compared to those of the F1 'circus' moving around the world - something the powers that be have tried to address by reducing the number of team and media personnel allowed to travel to events.
Asked if the sport might consider less races, Brawn is adamant: "At the end of the day, we're a business," he responds. "We have to generate income to make this whole thing work, and, obviously, the more races we have, the more profitable it is."
Check out our Friday gallery from Silverstone, here.