McLaren to use recycled carbon fibre at the United States Grand Prix

McLaren have announced that they will be trialling the use of cutting-edge recycled carbon fibre (rCF) on their 2023 F1 cars at this year’s United States Grand Prix.

The Woking-based outfit is no stranger to pioneering unique materials in Formula One. In fact, McLaren became the first F1 team to race a chassis manufactured wholly from carbon fibre in 1981. More recently, 2020 saw McLaren introduce bio-based flax fibre as a substitute for traditional carbon fibre, which has been successfully used in Lando Norris’ car seat ever since.

McLaren has now confirmed that they will debut another innovative material at the forthcoming United States Grand Prix after having sourced recycled materials made using newly developed technologies. Together with innovative composites organisation, V Carbon, McLaren manufactured several car components, using recycled carbon fibre which will be used on the cockpit Branding panels.

V Carbon claims that there are key environmental benefits of recycled carbon fibre. It is believed that the recycled carbon fibre will lead to a 90% reduction in life cycle emissions compared to standard carbon fibre, the equivalent of 27 tonnes of carbon emissions for each tonne of material used. It is believed that if just 1% of the carbon fibre manufactured globally in 2022 was rCF, it would save 32,535 tonnes of carbon emissions – equivalent to half of McLaren Racing’s total emissions in 2022.

While travel and logistics account for two-thirds of F1's carbon footprint, the manufacture of the F1 car is another large contributing factor to F1 teams' overall carbon footprint. Enhancing the use of more sustainable materials therefore has huge potential to help reduce emissions.

Commenting on the innovative project, Piers Thynne, Chief Operating Officer, McLaren F1 Team, said: “We're proud to team up with V Carbon to lead the charge in sustainable materials, running with recycled carbon fibre at the Austin GP. The potential future applications of rCF are hugely exciting. V Carbon offers up to 85% of carbon fibre original strength, making it strong enough for a variety of applications in F1, and beyond. We will continue to work closely with the FIA, F1 and fellow teams to help accelerate change.”

Speaking of the new materials, Kim Wilson, Director of Sustainability, McLaren Racing, said: “Developing a fully circular F1 car is our moonshot. We know that innovating in this space has the potential to make a large contribution to achieving our ambitious sustainability goals. As a team, we are passionate about driving change in our sport but we cannot do this alone and need to collaborate with others, like V Carbon and our partners Deloitte, to achieve this.

"Using recycled carbon fibre in key parts of the F1 car at this year’s US GP and analysing their performance on the track is a vital step towards reducing the overall GHG emissions of our car manufacture. V Carbon’s new technology, as with many other pioneering developments in F1, also has the potential for wider application across other industries, so we’re excited to explore next steps.”