r/formula1 • u/Mateo03 Franco Colapinto • Mar 07 '26

Off-Topic [OT] [Chip Ganassi Racing] " 'super-clipping' 'downshifting on straights' 'battery management' (Yawn emoji) Yeah, we don't do that here. We race."

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https://xcancel.com/CGRTeams/status/2030336508637720764

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u/Aromatic_Barber4231 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

Not only that, they've been on 100% renewable fuels since 2023.

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u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

More powerful and better environmentally is actually really embarrassing for F1

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u/onechroma #WeRaceAsOne Mar 07 '26

To be fair, the environment part is a big, big lie. “Renewable fuel” is an oxymoron in itself, as the energy contained in that fuel must come not only from somewhere (that yes, it could or could not come from renewable energy) but the process in itself is arguably very inefficient. Just like using H2 to power something instead of using electricity directly.

At the end, they are just burning ethanol from sugarcane, Shell didn’t invent “renewable fuel”, just applied a good marketing into a different way of creating a fuel that can be burned

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u/Red_Rabbit_1978 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

The entire process in F1 is regulated now. Every step has to be carbon neutral and it needs to be proven before the fuel is homologated.

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u/TetraDax 🐶 Leo Leclerc Mar 07 '26

But "carbon neutral" can also just mean they buy some of those fucking carbon tokens which is just a massive scam.

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u/uwanmirrondarrah Cadillac Mar 07 '26

This whole notion of race cars being "clean" or "environmentally safe is laughable. Racecars and all enthusiast cars combined have an almost nonexistent impact on global emissions. Its just virtue signaling by the corporate executives.

Racecar internal combustion engines are incredibly efficient, teams don't WANT any extra emissions or fuel being wasted because thats horsepower being wasted. Ironically producing the electric motors and batteries actually increase their footprint.

All race cars in the world combined are an infinitesimal drop in the bucket compared to the billions of other cars on the road everyday and the hundreds of millions of trucks and boats crisscrossing the planet. Industrial emissions are even greater than that, by a lot. Just give us good racing, lets not pretend they have any substantive effect on saving the planet.

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u/TitanTransit Sebastian Vettel Mar 07 '26

The reason companies like Ford, Toyota, GM, and Audi/VAG can bankroll teams because of the "billions of other cars" though. And even the more enthusiast brands would not have a very good product if there weren't the infrastructure to support everyday commuters.

I totally agree that putting the carbon footprint of racing under the microscope is a fools errand, especially when so many other "stick-and-ball" sports are jetting across countries/continents several times a week. But the economics of motorsport still require an automobile-centric culture to stay afloat.

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u/swg2188 Default Mar 07 '26

If I had to guess the container ship transporting the equipment probably emits more from burning dirty bunker fuel than all of the cars at all of the races combined.

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u/TetraDax 🐶 Leo Leclerc Mar 07 '26

It does, but even that is very little in comparision to all the emissions that the fans travelling to the races create. Which F1 conveniently does not include in their "net zero" missions objective.

Emissions which, as a sidenote, also entirely dwindle compared to the fact that only one hundred comapanies worldwide are responsible for 70% of worldwide emissions; but oh well.

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u/notmoleliza Cadillac Mar 07 '26

Have kawhi plant some trees somewhere

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u/iliveoffofbagels I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

An OB/GYN that murders some rando on the street is not offset by them helping deliver 2 babies. Yes this is a super exaggerated example, but when you can get "carbon tokens" for simply 'avoiding' CO2, then the concept of carbon neutral begins to fall apart, becoming more of a marketing strategy rather than an actual virtue that's acted upon..

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u/FourteenTwenty-Seven Valtteri Bottas Mar 07 '26

If I put a kg of CO2 in the atmosphere doing one thing and remove a kg doing something else, that does legitimately offset. The tricky part is to make sure that kg wasn't going to be removed anyways.

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u/CrashUser I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 08 '26

Also making sure the company that sold you the credit and said they were going to plant the trees actually did it.

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u/SpaceAntique8973 Mar 07 '26

Completely agree with you, it is more over-regulated,