Inside E1 Series with Leo Manzo, Head of Sustainability

Leo Manzo is Head of Sustainability at E1 Series, the world's first electric race boat championship, a role he pitched to CEO Rodi Basso himself, built around the idea that sport can mobilise its diverse stakeholders to do real environmental good. In this episode, Leo explains what makes E1 genuinely different from other sustainable motorsports: its electric RaceBirds create no wake and dramatically less noise pollution, both above and below the water, with early tests even showing improved communication among birds and marine life when the boats are running. He walks through the Blue Impact Dialogues (panel discussions with leading marine scientist Professor Carlos Duarte), the newly launched Blue Impact Championship rewarding teams for environmental action, the mandatory one-male-one-female pilot rule on every team, and the long-term hunt for a Blue Carbon partner, the concept, pioneered by Duarte, that restoring marine ecosystems could be essential to hitting global carbon neutrality targets. Episode recorded in February 2025.