What chance for the green Grand Prix?

Twenty-five years ago, Ronald Reagan was the US president, Bob Geldof was penning the lyrics for ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’ and Niki Lauda, driving for McLaren, was F1’s world champion. The intervening years will seem like the blink of an eye for many readers, but in that time the sport has undergone big changes as regulators have sought to make the sport a level playing field and limit the application of technology that could give the driver an advantage.

Today, the sport is being shaped by more fundamental forces. Concerns over climate change and energy use are changing the face of the automotive industry. Hybrid-, fuel-cell- and battery-powered cars are entering the mainstream and it would take a bold person to insist that we will all still be propelled by fossil fuels in 25 years’ time.

So if we accept the possibility that oil-powered IC engines are no longer the dominant mode of road transport, where will this leave F1? Will it evolve to reflect the changes on the road? Will it become an irrelevant heritage event: a high-octane symbol of our oil-guzzling past? Or will it cease to exist?