FIA turns Dutch Grand Prix into research laboratory with important innovation

The FIA is using the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort to trial prototype filtration systems designed to capture tyre wear particles, microplastics and other road pollutants before they are washed into the surrounding environment by rainwater.

Developed in partnership with the Technical University of Berlin and German start-up Urbanfilter, the project represents a significant step in the governing body's efforts to address what is becoming one of transport's most pressing environmental challenges.

A 2024 OECD report estimated that 2.7 million tonnes of microplastics entered the environment in 2020 alone, a figure expected to double by 2040, with tyre particles accounting for around 28 per cent of all microplastics entering the environment globally according to a University of Portsmouth-led study.

Two prototype filter units have been incorporated into the Zandvoort drainage network, covering approximately 3,300 square metres around the pit lane and the circuit's famous Tarzanbocht at Turn 1. Nicolas Aubourg, Head of R&D at the FIA, says the laboratory testing results have been encouraging.

"It's a pretty smart system," he said. "In laboratory testing, the system captured up to 99% of the particles in the water passing through it, with a maintenance interval of around a year. What we now need to establish is how a prototype performs in real conditions at a circuit."

The FIA is clear that motorsport's own contribution to global microplastic pollution is minimal, with just 22 cars racing on a closed circuit across a grand prix weekend.

The ambition is instead to use the controlled conditions of a race event to validate technology that could be scaled up for public roads.

"If we do convince the promoters of other street circuits that we could install these filters, we can race with fewer particles leaving the site and leave the filters behind afterwards for everyday road traffic," said Aubourg. "That would represent a significant quantity of particles that do not go into the environment."

Zandvoort's coastal location made it a particularly fitting venue for the project's first real-world deployment. The entire development process, from collecting samples at the circuit to manufacturing the prototypes, was completed in just over a year.

"We designed the filter and, one year later, we are here in Zandvoort with prototypes," Aubourg added. "If we show that it's working, then next year, with their help and with all the tests we have done, we will hopefully begin discussing the concept with other circuits. They are already interested."