It would have been more beneficial to protest a strawberry farm.
The German Formula E race - or Berlin E-Prix - was halted by the Berlin branch of Last Generation, a group of climate change activists known for disrupting global events, after several members stormed the track and staged a sit-in on the grid before the start of the race. Letzte Generation took credit for the post on its Twitter profile and shared a video of the event with the caption, "It's time to slow down. Because we're on the highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator."
A day later, Letzte Generation continued its campaign, staging sit-ins on Berlin's freeways and blocking inner city roads. This led to conflicts with the locals, and activists were dragged off the road by people simply trying to get to work.
Fortunately, Letzte Generation only managed to delay the start by six minutes, as burly marshals had no problems removing the treehuggers from the track.
Several drivers spoke to The Race, voicing their opinions on the matter. Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa, flat-out said that he was not a fan of this kind of activity.
"I think we are all fighting for the same, right? I'm not sure what they are trying to do because we are probably the worst category in motorsport for them to come and do this at," said da Costa. "We are by far the most ecological, sustainable, and net zero series that ever existed."
Robin Frijns races for ABT Sportsline and claimed pole position. He was less flattering in his remarks. "I just cannot really get my head around those people, what they are thinking, really," he said.
At least these protestors had the good sense to storm the track before the race started. At the 2022 British Grand Prix, activists stormed a live track. If you are an activist planning on storming the track, please familiarize yourself with F1 and Formula E cars' performance. In the battle between a squishy human and a purpose-built carbon fiber racer, the battle is one-sided.
This is not the first time Last Generation has made the news. Last year it started throwing food at high-profile paintings from Monet, Klimt, and van Gogh. In the automotive space, the Italian branch (Ultima Generazione) poured four pounds of flower over an iconic BMW M1 painted by Andy Warhol.
Formula E is the most environmentally-friendly motorsport there is. Yes, they use batteries for power but offset their carbon footprint via various clean energy projects like Piedra Larga Wind Farm II in Mexico. Each part of the car is built to be recycled, and the power units are now so advanced that 40% of the energy used during the race is claimed from regenerative braking. For charging, the teams use generators fueled by 100% sustainable fuel. In short, a Tesla Model Y is less environmentally-friendly than a Formula E racer.
Also, you guys aren't winning any favors with such extreme action. Why defile magnificent artworks? Yes, Gustav Klimt was Austrian, but as far as we know, he didn't drive a locally-built Mercedes-AMG G63, mostly because he died 50 years before the first G-Class was built.
We concede that protesting is a valuable source of expression in any free society, but these actions are annoying and less likely to get people on your side.
And finally - and we include it here because you probably don't understand racing - you put the Formula E drivers' lives at risk. Within six minutes, those tires cool down to a temperature where they no longer provide grip. In other words, you're risking lives.
You may think you're smart, but to the rest of us, you're simply a bunch of morons with no fundamental understanding of the automotive industry.
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