McLaren released its annual sustainability report on Thursday and the team has made significant progress.

These include a 22% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to a 2019 baseline, a 19% reduction in total waste compared to 2019, and no waste sent to landfill.

F1 has made a big push towards sustainability in recent years, with the World Championship publicly aiming to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

The effort has also seen the introduction of a cost cap in 2021, but Brown believes that limit is limiting progress.

“We’re big believers in cost caps and don’t want to see anything that undermines its integrity, but existing regulations have created some unexpected roadblocks when it comes to investing in sustainability,” Brown said.

“It’s fantastic to see so much support from F1 and other teams on this issue and we’re delighted that the FIA ​​has set up a working group to explore the next steps.”

The group, made up of F1, the FIA ​​and 10 teams, has “actively supported” discussions with McLaren to exclude certain environmental and sustainability items from the cost cap.

While a preliminary list of exclusions has been introduced, McLaren has further called for a comprehensive set of cost cap exclusions to support investment in sustainable development projects and programs without compromising the integrity of the cap.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60

Photography: Steven Tee / motorsport pictures

It advocates the exclusion of:

– Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and training

– Team benefit plan

– Costs for trainee and apprenticeship programs to help provide pathways into motorsports and STEM careers

Brown would also like to see technical regulations actively encouraging the adoption of more sustainable materials and processes, the introduction of clear sustainability criteria into Concorde agreements, and explicit requirements for promoters and organizers to meet certain sustainability criteria.

“To unleash the potential of our sport and drive the development of more sustainable technologies that can spark positive change around the world, we need real progress,” Brown added.

“It needs to level the playing field so that teams can work towards the same goals and no longer have to choose between investing in car performance and investing in sustainability.

“Our sport needs a clear regulatory framework, including financial, technical and sporting regulations, to enable us all to better innovate and invest in sustainable development.

“We need to find better ways to share expertise and insights across the industry. Only true collaboration can help us drive meaningful change.

“These decisions need to be made now if we are to achieve stepwise change through the new 2026 regulations.”