Maserati MSG Racing, Formula E, and the drive for social sustainability

Since 2014, the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship has been at the apex of innovation by not only redefining the automotive industry but changing the very face of motorsport.

This revolutionary attitude is a necessary step in pioneering change, and as one of the first teams to join Formula E, this unapologetic approach is a key part of Maserati MSG Racing’s DNA.

Together with Formula E, Maserati MSG Racing is proud to disrupt, motivated by the aspiration to break down barriers and open accessibility, with the hope of generating a better tomorrow.

Formula E too has been at the forefront of the drive for social sustainability and shares our mission to make motorsport a more diverse and inclusive space.

JuliaPallé, Formula E’s Sustainability Director, explains the correlation between environmental and social sustainability, and how the series plans to change motorsport for the better.

“Environmental and social sustainability absolutely go hand-in-hand,” explains Julia.

“Sustainability is about environmental protection, social inclusivity, and economic prosperity and I think it’s important to acknowledge that if you want to save the planet, you need to save the people.

“With climate change, our planet will adapt, but it’s our own species that is at threat from global warming.

“We need to take care of ourselves, fulfil the basic needs from a human perspective, and make sure that people are a part of society. Everything is inter-connected.”

“Formula E has a clear vision – accelerating sustainable human progress, and within that, social sustainability has its own dedicated pillar, alongside environmental protection, and economic prosperity.

“Innovating within these three areas is extremely important to giving back to the environment, but social progress and building more inclusive, diverse, and resilient communities is very close to our mission statement at Formula E.”

Season 9 is Formula E’s most expansive yet, with 16 races in 11 global cities, including four new host cities – Hyderabad, Cape Town, Sao Paulo and Portland, Oregon – across five continents.

For every E-Prix weekend, the World Championship has a dedicated community engagement plan in place, which sets out to leave a positive impact and legacy in every destination.

“We very much focus on children in our community engagement because we believe that sustainability lies closely with the future generation,” continues Julia.

“We want them to lead sustainable lifestyles, and so we work closely with local schools, universities, and we have a series of partnerships and programmes that engage the local community.

“The FIA Girls On Track programme is one of the best examples of our entire ecosystem coming together to promote gender diversity and inclusivity within motorsport.

“With Girls On Track, we look at how we can inspire young women from a diverse ethnic and socio-economic background to grow and embrace a high-skilled, technical field and facilitate the opportunity for them to come into motorsport.”

While environmental sustainability was once Formula E’s sole focus, and still remains as the series’ core goal, social sustainability has become an integral part of its agenda.

The pursuit of change doesn’t happen overnight – it comes through consistent hard work and dedication, and Julia explains that Formula E’s efforts have evolved significantly in nine seasons.

“I’ve been part of Formula E since Season 1, and initially, our primary focus was on the environmental sustainability of the series,” says Julia.

“From Season 2, we started to look more closely at social sustainability and mostly at human communities but started to increase our efforts around gender equality and diversity.

“We’ve started to add other levels to our social sustainability agenda since, and to do that, we use what we call a ‘glocal’ approach.

“We try to customise our social sustainability efforts to local cultures in order to make sure that they are relevant to local contexts because we want to deliver to each population.

“Just racing in some countries, like Saudi Arabia, is an accelerator for change. In Season 5, we conducted our first all-female rookie test there, but we also held Saudi Arabia’s very first mixed-gender concert and both were big accelerators.

“Formula E is on a journey, and our vision and values are clearly articulated around inclusion.

“We want people to feel welcomed and that’s something we want internally, in our recruitment, and externally in our fanbase.

“We want to attract talent from different backgrounds while retaining excellence within our business, and we want to be as diverse and representative as our fanbase as possible, which is very diverse and progressive.

“We have a good cultural environment to undertake this journey, and we want to extend that within the series so we can continue to grow.”