Welcome to Friday’s edition of the RaceFans round-up.
Yesterday’s Comment of the Day provoked an interesting debate over whether artificial intelligence belongs in Formula 1:
Each driver has their own specific driving style that remains pretty much the same (beyond regular refinement and evolution), regardless of the traffic around them. If they press the throttle to 80% they are going to get whatever power from the car that the pedal is tuned to at that stage based on its power map. The AI’s role there is simply upfront, helping to establish what the optimum power for the throttle should be at that percentage, rather than changing it on the fly mid corner.
I am also pretty sure that any team would simply not allow any system to operate fully autonomously without human oversight. Like I said in my previous post, the AI is there to monitor the live telemetry stream, establish how the car is currently running, look for issues and report back with potential solutions. It is an advisory tool for the engineers on the pit wall who then make the final call before anything is fed back to the driver.
Besides, giving an AI fully autonomous control over the car during a race would immediately fall foul of the FIA rules. The regulations explicitly state that the driver must drive the car alone and unaided. If a team let a live algorithm make active, automated driving decisions or alter the car’s behaviour on track without direct human input, the FIA would clamp down on it straight away.
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Social media and links
Malaysia back in the F1 frame as Bahrain hopes recede (Reuters)
‘The Malaysian Grand Prix could return to the Formula One calendar as a stand-in this season as hopes of racing in Bahrain recede due to conflict in the region, informed sources said on Thursday. April grands prix at Sakhir and Saudi Arabia (Jeddah) were both called off due to the Iran war but attempts to reschedule a round in Bahrain had looked promising until the situation flared up again.’
‘Eyes forward now’: Russell upbeat after Mercedes solve engine problem (The Guardian)
‘These new power units are just exceptionally complex, and there was something deeply embedded in the calibration of the code that was almost impossible to see unless … you knew exactly what to look for. So I’m glad we have found it. Spa and Silverstone probably exposed the issue just because of the nature of the track.’
Kobayashi: Toyota must ‘work hard’ after Sao Paulo struggles (Sportscar365)
‘We need to work hard to investigate what is causing the problem for us, and increase the performance. But BMW has always been strong, anyway. It’s not a surprise (that they are fighting for the championship) because they have their update. Also, I don’t know why, but especially the LMDhs this year have been quite strong.’
Dreyer & Reinbold returns full time, fulfilling founder’s vision (IndyCar)
‘Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced Wednesday it will return to full-time IndyCar series competition in 2027 after purchasing a charter from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, pending IndyCar series approval.’
‘The FIA is deeply saddened by the passing of Zdenek Chovanec, who completed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship back in 2021-2022. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Zdenek’s family and friends.’
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