If there’s one factor Formula 1 followers love, it’s evaluating drivers of various eras to find out who’s higher. Of course, within the sport’s 70-year historical past we’ve seen know-how evolve and calls for on drivers change, so it’s laborious to make any legit comparisons. But what if we may instantly evaluate two drivers of various eras at their prime by placing them on the identical observe on the identical time? That’s precisely what an upcoming tv occasion known as “Lap of Legends” intends to do.
Full disclosure: Michelob ULTRA invited me to the Las Vegas Grand Prix to take a look at previews for its upcoming documentary whereas additionally schmoozing with the Williams Racing group.
Essentially, “Lap of Legends’’ will be an hour-long special that will pit a handful of Williams Racing’s iconic drivers against one modern driver in a 16-lap race at the Silverstone Circuit.
In order to comfortably re-create the driving habits of icons like Mario Andretti, Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button, Williams and Michelob used artificial intelligence to study thousands of hours of race footage and historical data. The goal was to create a totally virtual version of the driver in question. The virtual Villeneuve, for example, should exhibit the techniques and driving styles that made him a World Champion — but without any modern input from Villeneuve.
You can check out the trailer for the special below:
I know I’ve often wondered how a modern driver would stack up against some of the icons of the past, and that’s just what “Lap of Legends” proposes to do. We’ll have the ability to see how completely different eras required completely different driving methods, then evaluate these types in opposition to each other with the intention to see who comes out on high.
“Lap of Legends” proposes an extremely fascinating idea — one which I hope we’ll proceed to see sooner or later. How cool wouldn’t it be to see this concept expanded to function racers from completely different groups taking over any of the present F1 drivers? How cool wouldn’t it be for followers at residence to have the ability to tackle a digital model of their racing heroes?
Before we get too forward of ourselves, although, we’ll have to take a look at “Lap of Legends” when it debuts in spring 2024 on AMC, BBC America, and the Roku Channel right here within the U.S.; after its American debut, the particular will then be distributed to a further 28 nations all over the world.
Source: jalopnik.com