The Lizards of Lauda Drive: A Large Scale and Important Re-Homing Project

Motorsport and wildlife. It does not exactly sound like a match made in heaven, but here in Brackley we are setting about changing that.

All team members on our Brackley campus deserve to live in harmony, whether human, bird, squirrel or… lizard?!

When seven English Common Lizards were found on our site in early 2024 as work begun on our campus redevelopment programme, the team - as landlords - sensed an opportunity.

Far from willing to evict our reptilian residents, we hatched a plan to create a state-of-the-art habitat in which the lizards – both those found and others who may be in the area - can thrive within on our grounds.

Common Lizards can live up to 12 years – so this is no short-term move, either.

What better way to demonstrate how the team seeks to embed sustainability in everything decision we make and action we take.

Fast forward to October 2024, and our scale-y friends are safe and sound settling in for a winter of hibernation, in a specially-created patch of land towards the rear of our factory.

Head of Sustainability Alice Ashpitel added: “We have created areas of logs and stone paths for the lizards because they love sunbathing and also created a wild flower meadow next to our woodland so they will hopefully be there for many years to come.

"Our hope is they will continue to thrive. They will hibernate over the next few months and then next year we hope to see them build up their community.

“They are incredibly fast which is obviously something we really like here in Brackley!".

Come April next year, the ‘Lizards of Lauda Drive’ will likely be out in force again, and sightings of Lizzie, Lissard, Ziggy, Whizzy, Lenny, Fizzy and Blizard will hopefully become more common.

Yes, that’s right – we have even named our new team-mates – with the help of team members’ children, who submitted a long list of brilliant suggestions before the final selections were made.

Team Member Tom, whose daughters had the pleasure of submitting two of the chosen names for the lizards, said: “My daughters are animal crazy, driver crazy and F1 obsessed, so they jumped at the chance to get involved!

“Numerous drawings, reworks and names were thrown around, until they eventually settled on what they wanted.

“All in all, I loved seeing them get creative, and that was all sparked by the team.”

Our site redevelopment plan aims to see the team create a world-class and sustainable F1 campus of the future.

The new designs include modernized buildings with energy-efficient features, green spaces for relaxation and recreation, and advanced research and development labs.

This will provide a vibrant and inspiring environment for our team, encouraging creativity and productivity.

In our race to become one of the most sustainable global professional sports teams, we will leave no stone unturned – whether that is looking into improving our carbon footprint or looking for lizards in the long grass!

With so many of team members based in Northamptonshire, it is no surprise the story of ‘The Lizards of Lauda Drive’ went further than our campus boundaries.

The story was featured on BBC News, with Ali also taking time to talk BBC local radio about the project:? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyv9dv89p5o