Former F1 star loses race to driverless car

Former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat raced against a driverless car this week...and lost the race.

The former Red Bull star took part in a ten-lap race in Abu Dhabi, to promote the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL).

A2RL sees autonomous Super Formula spec single seaters compete against each other, but there's a twist... they are operated by teams of engineers and driverless. Perfect if you don’t want to contend pesky drivers whinging at you from the cockpit.

In a tale as old as time, the racing world couldn't resist a bit of man versus machine and at the Yas Marina Circuit, Kvyat went up against AI racing team TUM.

Yep, you guessed it…Kvyat lost

AI was given a head start in the competition, but Kvyat was unable to overtake the autonomous car marking his first loss against the new machinery. It remains to be seen how AI race cars would fare over a full grand prix distance, yet they have undoubtedly improved from previous excursions.

Kvyat has previously taken part in a showrun against AI machinery and won on two occasions, beating the technology by 10 seconds at the inaugural event in Abu Dhabi in 2024.

The AI racing cars have garnered bad reputation on social media, with Kvyat taking on a similar challenge at Suzuka in 2024, where the driverless car crashed before the race even began.

However, a year later from that embarrassing outing, the technology has learnt a lot and improved, so much so it makes you want to get rid of your smartphone and live off grid in the mountains.

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