https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/30/the-first-ever-race-between-four-self-driving-cars-and-a-formula-1-driver-just-happened-in-abu-dhabi/

Wander the pits at any professional motorsports event, especially something like Formula 1, and you’ll see endless computer displays full of telemetry. Modern teams are awash in real-time digital feedback from the cars. I’ve been in many of these pits over the years and marveled at the streams of data, but never have I seen an instance of the Microsoft Visual Studio software development suite running there right amid the chaos.

But then, I’ve never attended anything like the inaugural Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League event this past weekend. The A2RL, as it is known, is not the first autonomous racing series: There’s the Roborace series, which saw autonomous race cars setting fast lap times while dodging virtual obstacles; and the Indy Autonomous Challenge, which most recently ran at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during CES 2024.