Returning for the 2025 season and 75th anniversary year this weekend, the Formula 1 sport has released a round-up on the progress made towards its sustainability and social commitments last year. In the form of 2024 Impact Report, which will be released later this year, the progress made towards its sustainability and social commitments with Net Zero as the goal for 2030, the Formula 1 sport has – on the environmental front – made significant investments in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) as part of its ultra-efficient logistics strategy. 
It has invested significantly in SAF as it delivers an estimated 80 percent reduction in associated carbon emissions per flight compared to the use of conventional aviation fuel. The combined investment in SAF with Global Partners DHL and Qatar Airways reduced total related emissions by more than 8,000 tCO2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent), an approximate 19 percent reduction in related emissions– compared to traditional aviation fuel – for the air freight charter programme operated by Formula 1 across the flyaway events of the 2024 season.
The delivery of innovative low-carbon energy generation systems using renewable sources such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), biofuel, solar panels, and battery began testing in 2023. Last year, they were used at the Red Bull Ring, the Hungarian Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. For the 2025 season, a programme will be rolled out to reduce more than 90 percent of carbon emissions at all European Grands Prix in key areas such as the Paddock, Pit Lane, and Event Technical Centre. 
As part of the sport’s ongoing efforts to reduce carbon emissions associated with travel and logistics, improvements were made to the geographical flow of races around the world in 2024. This included agreement from the Promoter in Japan to move the Suzuka race back from September to April to fit with the Asia Pacific segment of the schedule, while Azerbaijan took its slot to align with Singapore. The organisers of the Qatar Grand Prix also approved a move to the penultimate spot in the schedule, back-to-back with Abu Dhabi. From 2026 the Canadian Grand Prix will be hosted earlier in the year and the Monaco Grand Prix will take place on the first full weekend in June, consolidating the European leg of the F1 season into one period, removing an additional transatlantic crossing and delivering significant associated carbon reductions. 
Last year, F2 and F3 cars ran on 55 percent Aramco advanced sustainable fuel and the FIA medical and safety cars operated on 40 percent of it. In 2025, the F2 and F3 cars will move to 100 percent use of it, ahead of the Formula 1 cars adopting the fuels in 2026 in the new hybrid engines that will take to the circuit next year. 
The technology has implications for the automotive industry and existing petrol cars, as the fuel developed by Formula 1 will be a ‘drop-in’ that can be used in road cars without modification and will serve as a sustainable alternative of global benefit. 
Throughout the 2024 season, the cars all operated with FSC approved Pirelli tyres, which means the natural rubber in the type complies with the FSC’s strict standards for sustainable forestry. Some 80 percent of promoters powered aspects of their events using alternative energy sources such as solar panels, green tariffs, and biofuels. Over 90 precent of promoters began offering greener ways to travel to the race.
On the social commitments front, the Formula 1 sport – in 2024 season – marked the fourth year of its F1 Engineering Scholarships programme, which would support 50 underrepresented students by the end of 2025. The Scholarship covers the entire cost of the student’s tuition, together with living expenses for the full duration of their degree, enabling them to focus on their studies. It also offers them support to set them up for their careers, including work experience with one of the ten Formula 1 teams, as well as career workshops and mentoring. 
Formula 1 also launched the global education programme ‘Learning Sectors’ in collaboration with the British Council to inspire young learners in Brazil, India, South Africa, and the UK to pursue STEM subjects. The year long programme kicks off this year with 130,000 students in 700 schools. 
F1 Academy, the sport’s female-only series, competed alongside Formula 1 at seven events last year, completing 21 races. Through F1 Academy’s partnership with the international karting series, Champions of the Future, female participation in racing increased from five percent in 2023 to 25 percent in 2024. 
The sport also continued with hosting apprenticeships and workshops, such as The Next Grand Prix challenge in association with the Social Mobility Business Partnership (SMBP) charity, which challenges students aged between 16 and 18 from a breadth of backgrounds to assume a business leadership role and deliver a fictional bid for a new Formula One World Championship location. 
Ellen Jones, Head of ESG at Formula 1, said, “Innovation and community drove Formula 1's work in 2024. We are thrilled to outline our progress and continued work in this space. Formula 1 as a sport is uniquely positioned to take action through our global reach and technological leadership.”
 
 
 

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Lauritz Knudsen Electrical and Automation has entered into a partnership with Orion Racing India, the Formula Student team of K J Somaiya School of Engineering, Mumbai.

The collaboration is intended to support engineering students at the grassroots level and strengthen the development of electric mobility capabilities within India.

The partnership focuses on hands-on learning and experimentation in the design of electric and autonomous vehicle platforms. Lauritz Knudsen aims to foster skills in power distribution systems and electric vehicle charging infrastructure, areas central to the company’s industrial focus.

Orion Racing India has operated in student motorsport for nearly 20 years, transitioning from internal combustion engines to electric prototypes in 2019. The team uses electric race cars as a platform for students to address challenges in – energy management, power systems, vehicle safety and performance engineering.

Naresh Kumar, COO, Lauritz Knudsen Electrical and Automation, said, “India’s electric mobility journey will be shaped by the ecosystem we build today. At Lauritz Knudsen, we believe meaningful change begins early, when young engineers are encouraged to build, experiment, and apply their learning to challenges. By engaging with students who are actively working on electric vehicle technologies, we are helping develop future ready talent that will play a defining role in India’s mobility and energy future.”

Dr. Ukrande, Director of K J Somaiya School of Engineering, added, “Orion Racing India has a long and proud legacy of representing K J Somaiya School of Engineering at Formula Student competitions over the years. What makes this journey special is the continuity each batch of students builds on the learning, experience, and spirit of those before them. Through hands-on work on electric racecars, our students move beyond textbooks to real engineering challenges. Support from industry partners like Lauritz Knudsen further strengthens this learning ecosystem and motivates students to innovate in areas critical to India’s mobility future.”

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Horse Powertrain has announced kAIros, a company-wide artificial intelligence (AI) initiative led by its Horse Technologies division. The programme aims to reduce time-to-market by nearly 50 percent, decrease low-value process work by 40 percent and improve design cycle efficiency by 25 percent.

The initiative is supported by Nvidia, Google Cloud and Deloitte, focussing on engineering, production and business operations.

At the core of the initiative is the Horse Powertrain AI Factory, which supports model training, simulations and digital twins. The infrastructure is designed to generate training data to refine models and improve real-world deployment.

The technical framework includes:

• Nvidia RTX PRO servers equipped with Blackwell Server Edition GPUs.
• Google Cloud NVIDIA RTX 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPUs.
• Nvidia AI software, including CUDA-X, Omniverse and Cosmos, to accelerate application development.
• Google Gemini Enterprise for the deployment of AI agents to automate coordination tasks.

The kAIros initiative supports physical AI, connecting real-world operations with virtual systems in real time. This integration enables autonomous decision-making for cobots, automated guided vehicles and smart machinery. Key applications include video-based quality inspection, product simulation and robotics for process optimisation across factories and logistics.

A Centre of Excellence has been established to lead internal AI development. This multifunctional team will build applications to scale industrial expertise across the organisation and improve predictive accuracy in propulsion solutions.

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NXP Semiconductors has announced a series of robotics solutions designed for real-time data processing, sensor fusion and motor control. Developed in collaboration with Nvidia, these ready-to-deploy systems implement the Nvidia Holoscan Sensor Bridge with NXP’s system-on-chip (SoC) technology to reduce component count, power consumption and costs in robotic development.

The solutions focus on Physical AI, which requires low-latency data transport to synchronise motion and sensor data. By integrating the Holoscan Sensor Bridge into NXP's software, developers can establish a direct transport route between a robot's body and its central processing unit.

The architecture incorporates several NXP technologies:

• i.MX 95 Applications Processor: A machine vision solution designed to deliver high-bandwidth data to the robot brain.
• i.MX RT1180 Crossover MCUs: A motor control solution based on a kinematic chain.
• S32J TSN Switch: Aggregates motor control data and provides direct connectivity to the brain using Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) and EtherCAT protocols.
• Asymmetric Data Transport: Technology acquired through Aviva Links to manage high-throughput data across the robot body.

The unified architecture is designed to support humanoid form factors, which require complex motor synchronisation and real-time perception. NXP’s automotive-grade networking and functional safety expertise are used to ensure the reliability of these systems in physical environments.

Charles Dachs, Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Secure Connected Edge at NXP Semiconductors, said, “Physical AI is redefining what machines can do in the real world, and humanoid robots represent the most complex expression of that revolution. By combining NXP’s deep expertise in edge processing, secure networking, functional safety and real-time control with Nvidia robotics platforms, we are greatly simplifying physical AI development, enabling seamless connectivity between the physical AI edge and the central brain. This is just the beginning of what NXP will deliver to accelerate the ecosystem for physical AI.”

Deepu Talla, Vice-President of Robotics and Edge AI, Nvidia, commented, “The development of autonomous machines requires a high-performance computing architecture that can synchronize complex motor controls with real-time perception. By integrating Nvidia Holoscan Sensor Bridge into its edge portfolio, NXP is providing developers with a scalable foundation to accelerate the deployment of physical AI.”

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Tokyo-headquartered deep-tech company TIER IV has announced that it has developed new software stacks for Level 4 autonomous driving powered by data-centric artificial intelligence. The software is available via Autoware, an open-source platform, and is designed to be hardware-agnostic, supporting various system-on-chip (SoC) and sensor configurations.

The software stacks are built on an end-to-end (E2E) architecture and offer two primary configurations to allow adaptability across diverse driving environments:

• Hybrid System: Utilises perception and planning AI. It employs diffusion models to capture temporal changes in surroundings and generates trajectories by combining machine learning models with environment perception.
• E2E System: Integrates perception, planning, and control into a single learning process. It uses world models to treat surroundings and driving status as vector representations, creating a pipeline from recognition to vehicle operation.

Automakers can use TIER IV’s machine learning operations (MLOps) platform to iterate AI models. The platform manages data-quality validation, anonymisation and tagging, while generating synthetic and real-world datasets for system evaluation.

TIER IV has commenced 60-minute test runs in three global hubs to validate the technology under distinct traffic conditions:

• Tokyo: Collaborating with the University of Tokyo using a Toyota JPN TAXI to evaluate urban hub-to-hub travel.
• Pittsburgh: Partnering with Carnegie Mellon University using a Hyundai IONIQ 5 for robotaxi tests between Pittsburgh International Airport and the university.
• Munich: Working with the Technical University of Munich using a Volkswagen T7 Multivan for safety evaluations in European urban scenarios.

While safety drivers remain on board to comply with local regulations, no manual intervention is expected during normal operation.

Shinpei Kato, Founder and CEO, TIER IV, said, “To achieve Level 4+ autonomy, we need technology that evolves autonomously alongside the environments it serves. Our new data-centric AI models and collaborative MLOps platform provide a common language and a shared foundation for the entire industry. By working with research institutions, industry leaders and the development community to advance autonomous driving technology through Autoware, we are creating an open, transparent environment that fosters continuous, collective innovation for the benefit of society.”

Yang Zhang, Chairman, Autoware Foundation’s Board of Directors, said, “Autoware serves as the global foundation where researchers, corporations and developers collaborate to advance autonomous driving software. Our collaboration with TIER IV strengthens the international framework for validating and refining E2E autonomous driving through real-world deployment. By testing across three continents, we are driving standards-based innovation and expanding an open ecosystem that lowers the barrier for a diverse range of partners to join and contribute.”

Yutaka Matsuo, Professor at the University of Tokyo, added, “The release of these software stacks and MLOps platform is a vital step toward deploying advanced AI models in industrial applications. By accumulating data from Japan’s distinctive traffic environments through our Tokyo testing and contributing those insights back to Autoware, we aim to further bridge the gap between academic research and real-world deployment.”

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