Last weekend saw Oxfordshire’s Formula 1 teams revving up for British Grand Prix weekend (5 July). Whatever the podium results, Alpine (9th and 10th), and Haas (12th) Atlassian Williams (17th place), all contributed to the sport’s goal of becoming net zero by 2030. Each of the teams have made significant emissions reductions in their facilities and are excellent examples of how Oxfordshire’s advanced manufacturing economy is developing engineering, precision production and energy-saving innovations.
F1 has cut its carbon footprint by 26% compared with its 2018 baseline, with progress driven by the use of sustainable aviation fuel among other factors. Emissions from factories making the cars have been reduced by over 59%.
In Grove, Oxfordshire, Atlassian Williams’s programme includes renewable electricity, trials of hydrotreated vegetable oil for generators and trucks, electric vehicle charging at its headquarters, LED lighting upgrades and work to protect biodiversity across its 60-acre campus.
Alpine’s F1 operation at Enstone, and Haas, based in Banbury, have each earned FIA’s three-star environmental accreditation, the highest level in the governing body’s environmental programme, by powering their site with renewable energy, replacing lighting with LEDs, cutting unnecessary travel and optimising logistics.
All the teams are fiercely competitive and increasingly their rivalry is being extended to efficiency as they develop the processes and technologies that can support net zero manufacturing, future mobility and UK-led innovation.
Their choice of location in Oxfordshire means they are at the heart of UK’s Motorsport Valley, a nationally significant advanced high-performance engineering cluster. The UK motorsport and engineering services sector is valued at £16 billion in sales turnover and provides 50,000 jobs.