INNOVATION NET ZERO
“ A lot of the specialised materials used within our ecosystem are non-recyclable – and their sustainable counterparts simply cannot achieve the same safety, weight and performance standards.”
The manufacturing of F1 cars is one of the largest contributing factors to the overall carbon footprint of teams, so making cars more sustainable has potential for a lot of impact.
In 2023, McLaren trialled recycled carbon fibre at the US Grand Prix and introduced bio-based flax fibre as a substitute for carbon fibre in car seats in 2020.
“ The challenge of implementing circularity can sometimes be daunting – you need to transform your product, supply chain, business model and digital ecosystem,” says David Rakowski, Partner and Circularity Lead at Deloitte UK.“ But once you put the organisation infrastructure in place to do this, it is very feasible.”
Why does it matter?“ Sustainable design has a number of benefits – including reducing weight, improving efficiency and driving
144 October 2025