Do Formula One’s Tires Deserve Their New Green Stripes?

The top tier car racing sport has jumped the gun by adding green stripes to plain ol’ Bridgestone tires for their upcoming race.

Formula One racing announced that cars in the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix will have green striping on their tires to represent “going green.” Currently, there is nothing green about the hyper-horsepower vehicles nor the tires themselves, but the cars do have a remodel coming in the near-future.

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Next season’s regulations require that the cars use hybrid energy-regenerative braking. By 2011 the sport will make many other improvements, including the replacement of the current 2.4-litre V8s with 2.2-litre turbocharged V6s, a decrease in horsepower by 100, and the use of biofuels, which the FIA WTCC and the IndyCars circuit have already fully adopted.

After all these improvements are actually in place, Formula One could go ahead and paint every car green, and not just the tires.

For now, the stripes are supposed to remind fans to take simple measures to improve their own cars’ fuel efficiency by visiting the website Make Cars Green. The site recommends everyday drivers adopt better driving habits, such as “accelerate gently and keep your speed constant.” In other words, fans should not look to the racers as role-models.

Photo Credit: Uppure on Flickr under Creative Commons license.

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