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    Sustainability

Toto Wolff

“Motor racing is fuelled by passion. We operate in the fastest, most dynamic sport in the world and we have a responsibility to use that global platform to be more than leaders; we want to be pioneers. Over the past few years, we have worked tirelessly to change and better understand the impact we have on the world. We’re fully committed to sustainable high-performance. This is the future for us all.

“Whether deploying our resources to drive technological advances that will help society address the environmental challenges that we face, or committing to increase the diversity of our workforce, and supporting those in need in our local communities, our passion isn’t just in the cars you see on track, it’s across everything we do.

“We are a team of problem solvers; and we’re setting ourselves ambitions on how to become more sustainable across all that we do. We are at the start of this journey but have committed to extremely challenging targets because we are all in on the race towards a sustainable tomorrow. I am very proud of our team for the achievements that we have made so far and the industry-leading strategies we have committed to in the years ahead.

“What happens on the track is inextricably linked to what happens in the world outside, and that drives the entire team to continually go faster and further.”

toto

  • The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team are pleased to announce the publication of our annual Sustainability Report. The report captures our continued drive towards sustainable high performance and aims to provide a transparent and comprehensive overview of our environmental and social initiatives and impacts for the period from August 2021 to August 2022, including the publication of our externally audited 2021 CO2 footprint. 

    Highlighting our commitment to implementing industry-leading sustainability initiatives, to building an even more diverse and inclusive team through our Accelerate 25 programme, alongside a summary of our charity and community involvement, the report marks the second time that the team has documented our sustainability activities - having become the first team to publish this kind of report in 2021. 

    Environment

    Having exceeded our ambition to cut our CO2 emissions by 50% by 2022, we are looking ahead to our next challenge as we work to transition from leading practice to becoming pioneers.

    Our aim is to embed environmental sustainability in every decision we make and action we take. With a strategic ambition to become the world’s most sustainable professional sports team, we have set challenging targets to reduce our CO2 footprint across all scopes and achieve verified Net Zero by 2030. We will be assessing our carbon footprint to industry benchmark standards in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Guidance and SBTi framework, including full Scope 3 emissions reporting.

    We will target a 100% reduction in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions and 50% in Scope 3 by 2026, and 75% reduction in Scope 3 emissions and 25% carbon removal by 2030.

    We are taking bold action to address our largest sources of emissions, becoming the first global sports team to invest in Sustainable Aviation Fuel, an industry leading approach to reducing our Scope 3 aviation carbon footprint, which will almost halve the air travel footprint of our race team personnel. 

    Diversity, Equality & Inclusion

    Building a more diverse workforce remains a core priority for our team through our Accelerate 25 programme, which formalises our ambition of at least 25% of all new employees coming from under-represented groups, in each year from 2021 up to and including 2025.

    A review of all new employees shows that 38% of our new team members in 2021 joined from under-represented groups, with this year's figure standing at 32% to the end of June 2022. Female employees have risen from 12% to 15% of our workforce and employees from minority ethnic backgrounds from 3% to 7%. Whilst these numbers are not yet where we aspire to be, we are pleased to see that our positive actions through Accelerate 25 are having a measurable impact.

    One of the key pillars of Accelerate 25 is inspiring and motivating talented students from under-represented groups towards technical careers through STEM education, with the hope they aspire to join our team in the future. We are delighted to be continuing our work with the Mulberry Schools Trust, the Stemettes and the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers UK this year and to have welcomed two new Accelerate 25 partners: the Sutton Trust and the Business Disability Forum.

    Together with Sir Lewis Hamilton, we were pleased to announce the formation of Ignite in 2021, a charitable partnership which aims to increase diversity and inclusion within UK motorsport, and which has now announced its first grants to Motorsport UK’s Girls on Track UK and the Royal Academy of Engineering. 

    Charity & Community

    As part of our drive to have a positive impact in our local communities and industry, we are committed to using our team’s resources for the benefit of those in need and to share the passion for motorsport that we all thrive upon.

    We are proud to have supported our local community and Brackley Town Council through sponsorship of charitable initiatives, organisation of events for the community and local school outreach.

    Our team members have raised almost £75,000 for our Official Team Charity, Alzheimer’s Research UK, coming close to our £100,000 target which we aim to achieve by December 2022.

  • The Mulberry STEM Academy

    Revealing an exciting new partnership to provide a place for learning, inspiration and innovation… 

    Following our striking new livery debut in June 2020, the team are committed to building a credible programme that will offer greater opportunities for people from minority ethnic backgrounds to work in the motorsport industry, and to accompanying talent from education through to the opportunity to pursue careers in the sport.

    Established in November 2020, the Mulberry STEM Academy will give students access to inspirational role models, imaginative teaching and rich extra-curricular experiences over a five-year period.

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    Built on core values of high performance, team spirit and the continual desire for new challenges, the partnership between the Mulberry Schools Trust and Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix will provide the foundations on which a lasting commitment can be built.

    The Mulberry STEM Academy will be a powerful supplementary provision providing a specialised track for children and young people aged 7 to 18 who have talent, passion and aptitude in STEM education.

    Established in Tower Hamlets in 2016, the Mulberry Schools Trust is a flourishing multi-academy trust which includes Mulberry Academy Shoreditch, Mulberry School for Girls and Mulberry UTC. Schools within the Mulberry Schools Trust serve diverse communities: 84% of students speak English as an additional language, 66% are disadvantaged and 85% are from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds. 

    However, despite the challenges, the Mulberry Schools Trust has a track record of delivering outstanding achievement, with 81% of students going on to university.

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    Launched by Lewis and Toto on 5 November 2020 in a virtual event with the three Mulberry schools in East London, our new STEM Academy is a place where: future inventors, designers, analysts, technicians and capabilities

    • Specialised study includes a wide range of experiences of the world of work and technical practice, including mentoring, networking, access to experts’ workshops, webinars and work experience.
     
    • The UK’s future inventors, designers, analysts, technicians and entrepreneurs can further develop their talent, passion and aptitude for STEM and stretch their academic and technical capabilities.

    To find out more about the Mulberry Schools Trust, please visit:

    www.mulberryschoolstrust.org

    www.mulberryschoolstrust.org/stemacademy

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  • Ignite

    Together, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and Sir Lewis Hamilton have been the most successful racing partnership in Formula One history. Off the track this unique partnership has translated into a joint determination to improve diversity, equity and inclusion across the Team and the wider motorsport industry.

    In 2021 Lewis and the Team announced the formation of ‘Ignite’, a charitable partnership which aims to increase the representation of people from under-represented backgrounds within UK motorsport.

    As strong advocates for equality in all areas of society, Ignite founders Lewis and Toto Wolff are determined to address the lack of diversity within the sport, which has historically not been reflective of the world around it. Their work will include identifying and funding inspirational STEM-based programmes, with a focus on bridging gaps within education and motorsport careers.

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    Through these programmes, Ignite hopes to create meaningful impact and long-lasting industry-wide change, which will see talented individuals succeed within and contribute towards the future of the sport, regardless of their background.

    The work of Ignite forms part of Lewis’s ongoing philanthropy work and will sit under his foundation, Mission 44, as the arm centred on increasing diversity in the motorsport industry. 

    FAQs

    What is Ignite?

    Sir Lewis Hamilton has always been a fierce proponent of diversity and inclusion within the motorsport industry. As the only Black driver in the sport, he has long wanted to see equal representation within the paddock and beyond. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team has been proud to support Lewis and over the last couple of years have formalised their DE&I initiatives under the umbrella of the Team’s Accelerate 25 programme.

    This shared ambition led to the foundation of Ignite in 2021, when Lewis and Team Principal & Co-Owner Toto Wolff created the charitable partnership with the aim to create and strengthen pathways within UK motorsport for people from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds. Their work will include identifying and funding inspirational STEM-based programmes, with a focus on bridging gaps within education and motorsport careers.

    Ignite will form part of Lewis’s wider philanthropy and will sit under the umbrella of his charitable foundation, Mission 44, with a specific focus on addressing the lack of diversity within motorsport.

     

    How will it be funded?

    Together, Lewis and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team have committed multi-million dollar initial funding - which will be supplemented by funding from third parties. 

     

    What will Ignite’s work involve?

    To support its mission to increase diversity and inclusion within the UK motorsport industry, Ignite will implement activity focused on:

    • Helping to broaden talent pools by supporting the development of ‘team members of tomorrow’.
    • Inspiring and supporting under-represented groups in schools and universities to ensure they have opportunities to follow STEM subjects and, ultimately, engineering careers.
    • Dedicating support towards developing meaningful career paths for under-represented groups in motorsport.

     

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    Why are Lewis and Mercedes F1 partnering on this?

    Lewis has been a member of the Mercedes family since he was 13 years of age, and Mercedes has always supported his ambition to make the motorsport industry a more diverse and inclusive place. This passion extends beyond increasing the number of drivers from non-traditional backgrounds, but also to roles within engineering as well. Together in the last year Lewis and the Team have worked on several projects to address under-representation throughout motorsport. Ignite is the formal commitment between both parties.

     

    When will Ignite’s work begin?

    Currently, the first collaboration is in the planning phase and the Board is actively reviewing proposals. Ignite is determined to make each project as successful as possible, and so will dedicate the appropriate time to ensuring all due diligence has been conducted before launching.

     

    How does it relate to Mission 44?

    Ignite is the representation of Lewis’s commitment towards changing the face of motorsport and it sits under the umbrella of his charitable foundation, Mission 44. Its work will be informed by the findings detailed within The Hamilton Commission’s report, published in July 2021, with a tight focus on the motorsport industry, specifically STEM and engineering. Mission 44’s scope is much broader and will cover all projects which support under-represented people and will push for wider systemic change.

     

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    What findings from The Hamilton Commission will the work be based on?

    The Hamilton Commission report was released in July 2021 and found that there are many barriers preventing the engagement and progression of Black people within the UK motorsport industry. These barriers included factors within the education system which prevent the engagement of Black students with STEM from an early age, as well as factors within the industry itself, including:

    • Hiring practices within motorsport teams which favour students from Russell Group Universities.
    • Geographical factors, which mean the opportunity to garner work experience at places such as Silverstone are too far for students from low-income backgrounds to travel to.
    • Behaviour management practices in schools which disproportionately affect Black students.
    • The lack of Black role models within STEM teaching positions throughout a student’s educational career, including at higher education.
    • A lack of understanding among young people of the careers which studying engineering can lead to, and a feeling among Black students that motorsport ‘wasn’t for them’.

     

    Ignite will build on these findings as well as support other initiatives to encourage more people from under-represented backgrounds to undertake STEM learning and ultimately careers in motorsport.

     

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    Who qualifies for support from Ignite?

    The Ignite Fund will prioritise interventions that support the following under-served groups to access and progress in STEM and UK motorsport: 

    • Women and girls
    • Minority ethnic groups
    • Economically disadvantaged 

     

    Who can apply?

    • Registered charity 
    • Social enterprise or Community Interest Company (CIC) 
    • Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) 
    • Other non-profit organisations with asset locks to protect against private gain 
    • Statutory body (e.g. local authority) 
    • State-funded schools, further education or higher education institutions 
    • Community benefit society 
    • Cooperative society

     

    Organisations must have the following:

    • Have a track record of impact, particularly working with our target groups. This includes having robust systems to measure progress, outcomes and impact. 
    • Strong governance and management, including a strong and diverse board and leadership team. We are particularly interested in supporting organisations with minority ethnic group leadership. 
    • Share the values of the Ignite Partnership and consistently demonstrate them in how they operate day-to day.
    • Embed people from under-represented communities into how they work, including in proposal development and project delivery.

     

    Proposals to the Ignite Partnership will be by invitation only. We will find partners through our collective professional and personal networks as well as seeking input from experts and collaborators from across sectors. The Board will also consider funding for-profit organisations, but this will be as an exception where doing so is necessary to achieve the strategic ambitions of the Fund (e.g. due to speed, capacity or quality considerations).

     

    Who is on the board?

    Ignite’s board is made up of representatives from both founders:

    • Paul Mills, Chief People Officer, MGP Ltd (Chair)
    • Russell Braithwaite, Chief Financial Officer, MGP Ltd
    • Bradley Lord, Strategic Communications Director, MGP Ltd
    • Mark Hamlin, Chair, Project 44
    • Jason Arthur, CEO, Mission 44
    • Jo Livingston, Partner, freuds Communications