BERLIN, Feb. 12 (dpa/EP) –
German driver Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), a four-time Formula 1 world champion, believes that the premier class of motorsport takes very little of its opportunities to contribute to the protection of the environment, as he told the RND newspaper group.
“Until the end of 2025, we will run with the current engines, which are too sophisticated to become a series development model. Therefore, for the time being we only increase the proportion of sustainable fuels to 10 percent,” Vettel said.
“For me, none of this is evolving fast enough. Problems need to be tackled now and solutions found. Formula 1 would have plenty of opportunities to point the way to the future of mobility, but different interests stand in the way.” “That’s why we sometimes race in states with no racing tradition,” she lamented, pointing to another reason why Formula 1 is no longer held in Germany.
“I think it could be different if on the one hand we could offer a good sport with Formula 1 and on the other hand solutions for the problems of the future. Then there will no longer be any talk about whether Formula 1 is still in harmony with today,” he added.
Vettel revealed that he himself is trying to live as energy efficiently as possible. “I face what is my responsibility and what I can change,” he acknowledged.
Thus, he uses “the bicycle instead of the car whenever possible, the train instead of the plane”. “I offset my carbon footprint, I eat sustainably and I also deal openly with motorsport issues,” he explained of how he is dealing with the climate crisis.
“In general, I have been interested in the climate crisis and its consequences for a long time. And since the matter is so urgent that we can no longer afford to limit ourselves to talking about it, I think it is important to take action,” he stressed.