The Pioneering and Innovation Award recognises an individual or an entity that has shown a pioneering spirit or demonstrated true innovative thinking in motorsport. This could be in the fields of technology, diversity, sustainability, communications or others.
The winners will be announced at the Autosport Awards in London on January 29 and the following projects have been shortlisted.
Google x Formula E – AI Hackathon Event
Google Cloud and Formula E have been recognised with a Guinness World Record for the most participated in-personal generative AI hackathon after 1,130 people attended an all-day event ahead of the London E-Prix.
Giving a diverse range of participants an opportunity to engage with AI technology and live race data in a high-stakes environment, aiming to establish Formula E as the world’s most innovative and fastest-accelerating series.
The record number of attendees tackled real-life challenges, such as developing AI systems to identify on-track incidents quickly and alert race control. The winning team, Ancoris, built and demoed a Vertex Agent which consumed a two-hour race and created a two-minute summary podcast in any language required, with driver data and future events also taken into account.
Judges pinpointed the use of Formula E in a strong campaign that was on “a bigger scale than anything seen before in motorsport.”
Pirelli – Forest Stewardship Council-certified tyres
Earlier this year, Pirelli became the first company to produce a complete range of FSC-certified tyres for motorsport, with all the tyres used across the 2024 Formula 1 season marked with the FSC logo, a significant moment in the manufacturer’s move to being more sustainable.
The FSC-certified tyres were introduced following an intense development programme that began in 2022, which showed clear results in terms of both reliability and performance.
FSC certification is the latest sustainability initiative put in place by Pirelli, with all tyres brought to the track for a grand prix being transformed into secondary raw materials after use while the electrical energy used to make them comes exclusively from renewable sources.
The panel saw Pirelli’s innovation as a demonstration of the “capacity to change the sport” with a “lasting impact” and the effective use of F1 as a global showcase for progress.
STEM Racing, Supported by Formula 1
Formerly known as 'F1 in Schools', STEM Racing, Supported by Formula 1 is celebrating 25 years since its inception. In the programme, students create their own version of a Formula 1 team, working together, and assigning roles and responsibilities for specific areas – such as design, manufacturing and branding.
Once developed, the teams compete in STEM Racing events as well as presenting their effort to a team of judges, which in the past has included members of F1 teams.
The events start out at a regional level, before progressing to national events and eventually, the best of the best compete against other countries in the Aramco STEM Racing World Finals – held in 2024 in Saudi Arabia.
The panel was left impressed by the two decades of work from STEM Racing, Supported by Formula 1 which has “reached millions of young people, ensuring many funnel into a STEM career” and also noted the drive to increase female participation.
WMG, University of Warwick – Waste2Race sewage-powered race car
Students at the WMG at The University of Warwick have been busy building a hydrogen-powered car fuelled by sewage.
The car will run off a byproduct of Wastewater Fuels treatment technology being trialled at Seven Trent, with the Waste2Race Le Mans Prototype (LMP3) racecar built from a selection of spare and unused parts.
It will be used to attempt to break one of several land speed records depending on how it performs, including rankings for the fastest standing and flying starts for a mile and a kilometre, with the Waste2Race project funded by the Research Innovation Fund from UKRI via Research England.
Judges praised WMG for the execution of the project that also “transmits the passion for sport to a new generation of young people”.
