Autonomous Cars in Racing

Driverless Racing Cars
Is this how a driverless racing car would look?

It’s expected that there will be around 10 million driverless cars on the road by 2020 which is a both amazing and scary! There’s no doubt that having driverless cars (or autonomous cars as they’re also known) will have its benefits. Autonomous cars could help reduce emissions, traffic on the road and could also help increase safety. Not only could driverless cars become the norm, but they could also be introduced into the world of racing.



Will autonomous racing be interesting?

Would motor racing fans want autonomous cars in the sport? For a lot of fans, a big factor when it comes to the sport is cheering on the driver and their team during the championship season. If you were to take the driver out of the equation then the main focus is on how each racing car drives.

With manufacturers competing to be the best in the motorsport industry and the technology behind it constantly changing, autonomous racing doesn’t seem too impossible in the near future. Indeed it would be a great way to test the technology, improve public confidence in it and stimulate improvements in the technology.

A big benefit of driverless cars in racing is that if the car were to crash, then the only damage would be to the car rather than injuring a person behind the wheel. This would allow the sport to be faster and potentially more exciting.

If you have any thoughts on autonomous cars in the racing industry, let us know by using the hashtag #AutonomousRacing.

Altering a racing car’s appearance

Racing cars would look very different if they were designed to be driverless too. Would the public fall in love with the shape and lines of these redesigned vehicles in the same way?

Driverless Racing Cars
Is this how a driverless racing car would look?

We have reimagined six well known racing cars and what they would look if they were driverless. A lot of the features that you would expect from a car have been completely removed as they’d no longer be needed. Things such as the windscreen, the steering wheel, the seat and even the door have been left out and the designs make the cars look much more aerodynamic. The tyres on a typical racing car are different from those found on road cars, as they need to generate high speeds. The tyres on an autonomous racing car would be considerably different too, as they’d be given a sleeker, modern look and made to look much flatter.