McLaren and Deloitte produce handbook for circularity in F1 car production
McLaren Racing and Deloitte UK have worked to produce a new handbook promoting circularity in Formula 1. The development of FIA-commissioned Circularity Handbook will supply teams with guidance on how to make the most of data and apply circularity criteria to different materials and wastes.
The biggest names in racing have long looked to the consulting sector for technical support. Deloitte has been working with McLaren’s Formula One outfit for a number of years to this end – most recently extending its responsibilities to include capturing and analysing data to optimise car performance in 2020, and further growing its mission with McLaren Racing in 2023 with a new multi-year partnership centring on sustainability.
Now, as the racing giant looks to further build on its relationship with the Big Four firm, it has extended this partnership to produce a new handbook on sustainable practices. The news sees McLaren Racing, Deloitte UK and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) collaborate to create the F1 Constructors’ Circularity Handbook, designed to improve the development and manufacture of F1 cars.
David Rakowski, partner and circularity lead, Deloitte UK, said, “Formula 1 is a phenomenal platform for showing what the art of possible is. Implementing circularity practices that do not impede performance will be game-changing for the industry. Our partnership with McLaren has served as a catalyst for transformation and I'm excited to see the impact the handbook will have on the future of the sport.”
The handbook has been developed to create a consistent measurement for teams to use when adopting circular practices across the sport. These practices mean minimising the resources we consume, reducing waste in our processes, and maximising the value of the products and materials we use.
The Handbook will serve as a manual for all F1 teams to measure the circularity of their individual chassis manufacture, creating opportunities for future regulatory change to improve the overall sustainability of the sport. According to a release from the involved parties, that will include a step-by-step methodology to identify and gather data, as well as estimate data to fill any gaps; definitions of how to apply circularity criteria to different input materials and waste streams; and guidance on how to use this information to calculate a single circularity metric.
Kim Wilson, director of sustainability at McLaren Racing, commented, “I’m immensely proud of the work we’ve delivered in partnership with Deloitte as a first step to improving circularity in our sport. We identified the manufacture of our F1 car as a key opportunity to improve our environmental impact and progress towards our sustainability targets. This handbook is a crucial step in achieving that. If we can encourage all teams to measure their circularity, we can collectively influence the technical regulations to improve sustainability without compromising performance.”
The extent to which the move genuinely improves the sustainability of Formula 1 is debatable, though. According to a report from F1, the sport releases around 256,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every season – but while the cars are largely the focus of discussion over this footprint, in reality it is the behind-the-scenes activities which have the greatest impact. With every Grand Prix taking place in a different part of the world, and being contested by 20 different vehicles, the mammoth efforts to move teams and equipment to various venues, as well as the energy used in setting up and operating the event and waste management take a colossal toll. As a result, F1 cars only account for 0.7% of the sport’s emissions.
