So much for being fuel efficient

[Sidney'61]

With all this talking of using public transport, cycling to work, car sharing and people determined to make us use our cars less, how do formula one get away with it?
Ok, it may be interesting to watch but how much fuel are they burning away needlessly?
What really took the biscuit for me was watching todays race in the dark! Why? Was there any need to do this race at night except to use as much electricity as they could and waste as much fuel as possible?

I'm generally not one for complaining about damage to the environment but how many years of walking to work instead of driving will be needed to undo what they have done in a couple of hours?

[bmcecosse]

Well -it was done that way to save us having to get up in the middle of the night to watch it! Many millions would do that - each switching on several lights/heating/boiling kettle for a cuppa etc - and so overall it probably used considerably less energy to light the track than we would all have used watching during the night!
But hey - why pick on F1 - what about daft footy games played under lights all over the country - why don't they play during the day ???? Look at the energy that could be saved there!

[dalebrignall]

i could not agree more a stupid game with players earning millions forcing the man on the street out because they cant afford the tickets.im a rugby fan

[FrankM83]

My same thought today Andy!!! was watching the Singapore gran Prix, not a big fan but nothing interesting on Tv, and noticed that all throught the circuit there was a line of lights all lit up!! aside from the other large spot lights, and what about all the tyres used!! but that's politics pick on the young and defensless classic car owners, cuase there cars aren't green enough, they don't know that I switch off my Minor at every downhill to save fuel and be ecofriendly lol

[linearaudio]

If we're going to start a grumble, what about a/ All them jet aircraft burning however many gallons of aviation fuel and depositing the detritus all over our shiny paintwork. And b/ The pollution caused by China, India et al which surely makes the emissions of our morrys look a little insignificant!

[morrisman1]

we would have to stop farting for a day or two to compensate for F1! the F1 cars themselves will be pretty insignificant in comparison to the fuel used getting the spectators there. dont those cars run on an ethanol blend anyway?

[rayofleamington]

we would have to stop farting for a day or two to compensate for F1! the F1 cars themselves will be pretty insignificant in comparison to the fuel used getting the spectators there. dont those cars run on an ethanol blend anyway?

The fossil fuels burnt to mprovide the electricity used for all the TV's showing the race will also be higher than the fuel used during the race...
It used to be said that technology from racing is passed on to production cars eventually. These days I really don't believe that is the case. For example, paddle shift road going vehicles described as 'F1 style shifting' have 0% in common with 'F1 shifting'.

[jaekl]

It's time to update the amount of energy saved by rebuilding old cars versus building a new one and don't forget all the activities and driving that isn't done because your are working on it. Car people may actuall use less fuel because they may tinker more than drive.

You think it may come to someone deciding which activities have social merit and ones that don't in order to reduce energy usage?

[morrisman1]

It's time to update the amount of energy saved by rebuilding old cars versus building a new one

im always arguing about that. with the wannabe greenies who go out and buy things like prius's and other fandangled electric things.

reality is that it takes much less energy and wastage to maintain an older car to a higher standard than it does to keep building new ones. the only advantages of newer cars is active safety. i would still consider a good handling car to be safer than one which cant turn for MY FAVOURITE CAR IS A DATSUN CHERRY but has a gazillion airbags.

the fuel difference between equivilent old and new cars isnt huge. the car market is definetely driven by marketing and the those with all money and no brains get sucked in and update their car every few years.

in New zealand we almost literally run our cars into the ground. people dont throw cars away when they hit 100,000km. our peugeot 405 has 220000km on it, at work the suzuki carry (1litre small van) has 310000km on it, a lady i work with has a HDi peugeot 306 with 300000km on it. theres absolutely no sense in replacing things for hte sake of having a newer one when the old one is still perfectly good.

eventually the fleet will need replacing but i believe that cars shouldnt be scrapped untill they are no longer fit to use on the road

[Pyoor_Kate]

And b/ The pollution caused by China, India et al which surely makes the emissions of our morrys look a little insignificant!

I know this is somewhat off topic, but I always take issue with this complaint. The reason that the pollution produced by china and india is significantly increasing is that they're producing the rubbish we buy. All those cheap plastic bits of tat, laptops, hi-fi's, tvs, kitchen appliances, doojits on the shopping channels... they all have to be made somewhere, and at the moment the demand is there from people in the western world and they're made in India and in China. Until people stop demanding stuff there're going to be countries that'll make it.

[Alec]

Hello Andy,

I think the previous posts have adequately covered the subject, but I would add that getting things into perspective would be the thing.
Bear in mind the mathematical statement:- 100% of nothing is nothing., and similarly an insignificant amount of fuel in real terms is virtually nothing.

Alec