Peter Lyon
October 23, 2025
The cars you see here look like a cross between an F1 car and an IndyCar machine. They might be powered by 550-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter petrol engines, but the cars do not have drivers. How many of you knew about this eye-opening A2RL self-driving race series? Qualification for the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) has concluded with a thrilling pole position for reigning champions TUM. The German team is one of six that have made it through a demanding, multi-stage qualification process to the Grand Final on November 15.
A2RL is a demonstration of cutting-edge autonomous technology, accelerating AI development through competition in extreme conditions. Eleven international teams travelled to Abu Dhabi to qualify for the second season of the world’s most advanced autonomous racing championship.
The competition is designed to push artificial intelligence to its physical limits as the best minds from academic institutions, private companies, and privateer race teams compete on the world stage for a US$2.25 million prize pool.
Record lap times
Further pushing the frontier of driverless technology, history was also made during the week of intensive qualification as teams began to consistently set sub-1-minute lap times on the North Circuit configuration of the Yas Marina track. Italy’s Unimore team, a returning finalist, set an autonomous lap record of 58.87 seconds – seven hundredths of a second faster than the benchmark lap set by a professional human racing driver during data collection laps (59.20 seconds).
The record-setting lap was achieved during Pace Qualification, where all teams completed three separate 15-minute sessions to set their fastest possible times. This was followed by Multi-Car Qualification, four heats of twelve laps, where performance highlights included a spectacular overtake on Unimore from TUM, securing pole position in their pursuit of back-to-back wins.
World First: Six-Car Grand Final
Six teams – TUM, Unimore, Kinetiz, TII Racing, PoliMOVE and Constructor – qualified for the Grand Final on 15th of November 2025 at Yas Marina Circuit. Representing four countries, they will compete in a 24-lap multi-car race, the largest race of its kind and a spectacle like no other. The event will also feature a Silver Race time trial for the remaining five A2RL teams.
This year, former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat returns for the second instalment of the Human vs AI showcase – a demonstration of machine precision versus human instinct and the rapid evolution of AI performance.
Stephane Timpano, CEO of ASPIRE, commented: “This season, we’re pushing the boundaries of autonomous racing even further and redefining what is possible. From week to week, we are seeing ‘machine’ capabilities rapidly approaching human performance – even surpassing some human benchmark times set during data collection. This week, Unimore has thrown down the gauntlet with a record-breaking lap time.”
Ayoub Raji, Co-Lead of Unimore Racing said: “We are proud to have demonstrated that an autonomous race car can deliver close to human capabilities. The competition was fierce, with many teams bringing extensive experience and strong technical resources. Our autonomous stack proved not only to be the fastest but also the safest, skillfully exploiting the kerbs to avoid a collision during TUM’s overtake. We can’t wait to be back on track for the Grand Final on November 15, pushing our software to the absolute limit in pursuit of first place. “
Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week
The 2025 A2RL race will be the climax of the first-ever Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week (ADAW). This new six-day event brings together researchers and industry experts across a series of high-profile summits, exhibitions, and events. ADAW includes the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Summit, DRIFTx Exhibition, and RoboCup Asia-Pacific.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
To be bluntly honest, while I admire what these teams are doing for racing and advancing self-driving tech, the fact that cars of this caliber can be raced using AI and remote-control setups scares the living daylights out of me. Maybe I am old, but I just feel that racing needs heroes. Top-level racing needs heroes for fans to focus on and generate enthusiasm for teams. Fans go to the races to see the competition for sure, but they also go to see their heroes race. Without Verstappen, Hamilton, Piastri, Norris, Leclerc and Russell, where would F1 be??
