Sebastian Vettel was shocked when he compared his CO2 footprint with the average and took measures to reduce it by 85 percent
For many, the fact that Sebastian Vettel was already committed to the issues of sustainability and carbon footprint even as an active Formula 1 driver didn’t add up. Even Vettel himself had to admit that it seems a bit strange when a driver jets around the world several times to take part in car races, but on the other hand is an advocate for environmental protection.
But the four-time world champion already tried to do his part to reduce CO2 during his active career, even though he still had a much higher share compared to a normal citizen.
In an interview with ‘The Red Bulletin’, Vettel reveals that he started measuring his carbon footprint several years ago: He wrote down every car kilometre, every flight and every overnight stay.
In the end, he had calculated that he had a CO2 footprint of 400 tonnes – only in connection with Formula 1. By way of comparison, an average German came up with a figure of eight tonnes in 2021.
“Seeing this figure compared to that of the average consumer knocked my socks off,” says Vettel. “After that, I took measures to get the value down.” In the end, he was still at 60 tonnes – still well above the average value, but still a reduction of 85 per cent.
How did Vettel manage that? Much of the reduction came from not taking flights. “Apart from Silverstone and Budapest, I travelled to all the European races by car last season,” he reveals. “This step felt zero like renouncing, but as completely logical – as did all the other smaller ones I had set in parallel.”
As a teenager, he says, the driving licence was “the ticket to freedom” for him at the time. “In motorsport, I was driving a lot in the beginning and soon got tired of driving long distances on the road.”
That’s why the plane then came into play for him, and later – due to the extreme time savings – the private jet. The step back then felt good to him because he could plan things better again and take things into his own hands.
“Sure, I couldn’t have come to Australia by sailboat, otherwise I would have missed the race or at least the following one. But whenever I could, I enjoyed being back on land and seeing things I would have missed on the plane,” said Vettel. “The supposed loss of time is not actually a loss, I realised.”
But he also emphasises: “I don’t want to dictate anything to anyone or portray myself as an angel, but that’s how I started with myself. “
