F1 set to clean up its act?

News has reached us that Formula 1 could soon follow the lead of IndyCar and run its cars on ethanol, rather than stinky, polluting petrol. Former world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, who is building a sugar cane refinery (ethanol is created from the fermentation of sugar cane) in his native Brazil, revealed that Wee Bernie Ecclestone has been looking into a potential fuel switch:

“Bernie last year contacted the No. 1 group for ethanol in Brazil… I’m sure a lot of other (racing) categories in the world are going to follow Indianapolis.”

Indy Car has been running on ethanol since the 2007 season and General Motors is reportedly pressuring NASCAR to follow suit.

F1 must have by far the largest carbon footprint of any sport, and not just because of the gas-guzzling machinery - consider also the number of air miles racked up by each team in a single season. The switch to a greener fuel would do much to convince F1’s eco-critics that the sport is making an effort to change for the better.

[Source: Wired]