Sebastian Vettel questions Formula 1’s environmental pledges after 2023 calendar controversy

Sebastian Vettel has called-out Formula 1 bosses for putting profits ahead of environmental pledges following the announcement of the 2023 race calendar.

In 2019, F1 announced an intention to become carbon-neutral by 2030, with plans to make cars more efficient and run-on sustainable fuel.

However, the bigger concern for the sport is the environmental impact caused by travelling the world for races, though promises were made that future calendars would be better organised to lessen the emissions generated, with grand prix arranged by geographical area to avoid continent hopping.

However, the record-breaking 24-race calendar for 2023 that was revealed last Tuesday has drawn criticism for increasing and not lessening the distance travelled between races.

Perhaps the most egregious problem comes between May and June, when F1 will go from Azerbaijan to Miami, only to go back to Europe for three races, before returning to North America for Canada, only to head back to Europe again straight after.

Four-time world champion Vettel, who frequently speaks out on both environmental and human rights issues related to the sport, has questioned the net zero goals and F1’s true intentions.

‘The question is what happens if they don’t meet the targets?’ the Aston Martin driver told Auto Motor und Sport.

‘Who is the controller? If Formula 1 controls itself, that’s a nice slogan but not particularly credible.

‘In the end, it is important that you are also prepared to take a slice of your own profits in order to take credible steps with it.

‘Formula 1 is experiencing a boom right now, also due to the Netflix series [Drive to Survive]. And now people are desperate to take advantage of this boom.

‘The [e-fuel] technology is already there. It’s not a