ÂÌñÏ×ÆÞ

The  has communicated first steps toward the qualification and application of sustainable carbon fiber composites in their 2025 Formula 1 season W16 race car.

Carbon fiber composites form approximately 75% of the team’s race car materials, meeting performance and safety needs. Innovations in these materials will provide an opportunity to reduce the car’s carbon footprint, supporting net-zero goals across all scopes by 2040.

Featured Content

Assembling the Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator: The final welds READ MORE

Bladder-assisted compression molding derivative produces complex, autoclave-quality automotive parts READ MORE

Submit abstract to speak at CW Bonding and Welding Tech Days in April READ MORE

Working closely with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) within the scope of relevant regulations, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team aim to demonstrate that sustainable carbon fiber composites can perform to the same technically demanding requirements as traditional materials. To qualify such a material for use on a race car, it must undergo rigorous laboratory testing to provide understanding of its technical properties and performance. Transferring from the lab to the racetrack requires further trials and verification to ensure the material behavior aligns with expectations.

The team notes that the identification and subsequent qualification of sustainable materials solutions would not be possible without the continuous innovation and ongoing support of its supply chain — which has included Ineos Nitriles, and collaboration with Toray, Syensqo and Sigmatex. Each carbon fiber composite component involves four to eight suppliers to deliver the final product.

To achieve a sustainable carbon fiber composite, both components — the fibers and the resin system — must be addressed. Working collaboratively with its supply chain, Mercedes-AMG Petronas FI has two separate projects underway for introduction later in 2025, one of which will address the resin system and one the carbon fibers themselves.

“When you combine performance and innovation, you create progress,” says Toto Wolff, team principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. “I would like to thank our partners for supporting our drive for material innovation, and to the FIA for enabling us to test these materials. Collectively we are moving the dial on sustainable products and demonstrating that Formula 1 continues to be the fastest laboratory in the world.”