F1 to reportedly stop military flyovers before Grands Prix in 2022 season

F1 have reportedly decided to stop military flyovers and air shows prior to Grand Prix events in the upcoming 2022 season.

According to a report by racingnews365.com, the popular spectacle of military aircraft flying by to in grandiose before the races will stop for sustainability reasons.

The air shows were a staple at many Grands Prix events. Monza, Yas Marina, Silverstone have had iconic moments in the past and were a huge hit for race promoters in the sport.

However, F1 intends to become more carbon neutral and cutting out military flyovers is seen as a huge step towards that objective.

Environmental concerns are primary to the cause, but they are not the only ones. The report also suggests the scrapping of flyovers could be to prevent countries from using them as a means of exhibiting military strength.

While F1 has opted to cease military flyovers, they have left the door open for promoters to use commercial airplanes in shows. However, these promotions will have to meet certain environmental conditions.

Races in the Middle-East have featured passenger airliners in the past. Gulf Air used a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner at the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix with a second-generation biofuel.

Emirates are one of the main sponsors at the aforementioned Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the Yas Marina Circuit and have done airshows with their planes.

Red Bull have also used their old aircrafts for crowd entertainment at the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

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F1 cars in 2022 season to use E10 fuel for sustainability reasons

F1 have confirmed that the 2022 cars will use a new fuel called Ethanol-10 (E10). This fuel is a mix of 90% fossil fuel and 10% Ethanol. This is the first step in the sport's plan to achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2030.

The sport's Chief Technical Officer Pat Symond spoke about the move to E10 and how they target sustainability with the new engines that will be used going forward. He said:

“It's very ambitious, in the scope of what we're trying to do, to make a very high-performance sustainable fuel. Road fuels in the UK are with 10% ethanol now, and they have been in certain parts of Europe for a while. But ethanol is not the best fuel for high performance."

He added:

"So what we're doing is, we’re synthesizing a high-performance, fully sustainable fuel, and that is something that is both difficult to do and hard to do in the quantities we need. So it is quite an ambitious stretch that we're making.”

The use of E10 will reportedly come at a cost of 20 brake horsepower (bhp) and teams will need to find a way to recover that deficit. Reports indicate that Ferrari have worked with fuel company Shell to develop a fuel that helps them recover lost power.

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