The German manufacturer trialled using biofuel for its transporters at last year’s Belgian, Dutch and Italian Grands Prix triple-header to see if it was feasible to use more sustainable fuel.
That experiment proved a success, in reducing emissions by 89% compared to using normal fossil fuel.
However, the issue of the cost cap proved to be a hurdle in Mercedes committing to using the more environmentally friendly fuel for a full European season.
Biofuel costs are higher and, under the original cost cap rules, fuel costs for taking transporters to races had to come out of the team’s annual budget. That, in theory, meant that a switch to biofuel would have had knock-on consequences in terms of resources left for car development.
However, following discussions at the For …