Why sustainability is key to Pirelli’s F1 programme

The topic was also a key element of the most recent F1 tyre tender process launched by the FIA, and which covered the 2025-’28 seasons.

However, long before it submitted its successful tender bid Pirelli had already established its sustainability credentials. Indeed, in November 2021 it became the first tyre company to receive a three-star certification under the FIA’s Environmental Accreditation Programme.

“We got the FIA certification more than one year before the tender,” says Pirelli director of motorsport Mario Isola.

“So we already started well before the tender to work around sustainability. And if we talk about sustainability in the company, we started with the first actions in this direction many years ago.

“For example, our factories use electricity from renewable sources, and that is not something you can do from one day to another. It is a long journey, and we have more plans for the future.”

There are multiple aspects to Pirelli’s F1 sustainability initiatives, and one of the key parameters involves the products that are used in manufacturing.

In parallel with its successful tender bid Pirelli achieved another important milestone when its 2024 F1 tyres were certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council.

“The FIA three-star is a certification that you have to fulfil some requirements for, and you get the certification,” says Isola.

“However, the sustainability strategy for the company is something that is completely separate from the three-star.

“For example, there is no requirement to have an FSC tyre. It was our project to introduce an FSC-certified tyre in F1, because this is part of an activity we started with BMW in 2021, with a road tyre that was the first to be certified by the FSC.

“And as a natural extension of that we were also evaluating to use this certification for F1 tyres, and we were working in the direction to get this certification.

“It shows that we respect a number of conditions in all the life cycle of a tyre, from the rubber plantation, how we extracted the rubber from the trees, the respect of biodiversity, the respect of the local population, how we use this rubber.
“They follow all the life cycle of the tyre to the end of life, which is the way we recycle them.”

Pirelli also pays close attention to the complex mix of ingredients used in the manufacture of its F1 tyres.

“That’s part of a normal, let’s…