The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari at Imola will host a radically different form of motorsport on 5 September, when five driverless single-seaters take to the circuit for an A2RL autonomous race. With no driver in the cockpit, software and algorithms will make every decision involving braking, acceleration, racing lines and overtaking.
The event will mark the first international round outside the United Arab Emirates for the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, bringing autonomous single-seater competition to Italy for the first time. Admission will be free with advance registration, while all five cars will be based on the same Dallara Super Formula SF23 platform.
It represents a striking contrast for a venue deeply associated with traditional Formula 1. The Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit and its F1 history have made Imola one of motorsport’s most recognisable venues, but on 5 September the emphasis will shift from human skill behind the wheel to artificial intelligence and autonomous decision-making.
How the A2RL autonomous race at Imola will work
The cars are powered by a two-litre turbocharged engine producing around 550 horsepower, but the defining technology lies elsewhere. The autonomous driving system relies on cameras, radar and high-precision satellite positioning technology to understand what is happening around the car and react accordingly.
The real competition therefore takes place inside the software. Each car must continuously create an accurate representation of its surroundings, determine its own position on the circuit, identify rival cars, calculate their speeds and distances, select the most effective trajectory and convert each decision into precise steering, throttle and braking commands.
All of that must happen in real time at speeds exceeding 250 km/h. At those velocities, even a small delay in processing information or an incorrect assessment can have immediate consequences on the circuit.
Five teams are set to participate at Imola: PoliMOVE from Politecnico di Milano, Unimore Racing from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Germany’s TUM, Constructor and the UAE-based Kinetiz team.
Identical cars put the focus entirely on the virtual driver
Because the cars are technically identical, the competitive battle centres entirely on which team can develop the most capable “virtual driver”. Unlike conventional motorsport, there is no advantage to be found through developing a different chassis or power unit. The decisive factor is the quality of the software controlling the car.
Imola should provide a particularly demanding test. Its elevation changes, technical corners and limited overtaking opportunities already make the circuit difficult for human drivers, while a recent analysis of Imola’s characteristics with the 2026 F1 generation highlighted the unusual combination of speed and technical difficulty presented by the Italian venue.
For the autonomous cars, following a predetermined racing line will not be enough. The algorithms must respond to changing situations and decide when to attack another car, when to defend a position and, crucially, when abandoning a potentially dangerous manoeuvre is the better option.
Daniil Kvyat benchmark shows how quickly autonomous racing is advancing
The progress made by the technology can already be measured against a human benchmark. During the 2025 A2RL finale at Yas Marina, an autonomous car from TUM completed a lap just 1.58 seconds slower than former Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat.
The autonomous car recorded a best time of 59.15 seconds compared with Daniil Kvyat’s 57.57. Only a year earlier, the gap had been approximately 10 seconds, showing the scale of the improvement achieved over a relatively short period.
That result does not mean artificial intelligence has reached the level of a professional racing driver in every condition. It does, however, demonstrate how rapidly autonomous systems and the strategies controlling them are developing.
Simulation is the first step before the cars reach Imola
A2RL is designed primarily as a technological laboratory. Before running the cars on a real circuit, teams can put their algorithms through thousands of hours of simulation, reproducing overtaking situations, critical scenarios and potential accidents in a controlled virtual environment.
Only after that development work does the software face the much more demanding reality of controlling a physical car on track. The transition from simulation to competition is important because the algorithm must respond not only to predefined scenarios but also to the movements and decisions of several other autonomous cars operating at racing speed.
Imola moves from Formula 1 tradition towards autonomous technology
The 5 September event therefore carries particular significance. Imola, a circuit synonymous with generations of Formula 1 history, will become a testing ground for technology that its developers ultimately hope can contribute to the transformation of everyday mobility.
The contrast is especially notable in 2026. Imola was omitted from the original 2026 Formula 1 calendar, although the Italian circuit has remained firmly in the motorsport spotlight and has continued hosting major international competitions.
A racetrack is naturally a far more controlled environment than a public road, but the underlying principle behind autonomous driving remains similar: gather information from the surrounding environment, interpret that information correctly and make decisions without direct human intervention.
For Imola, the A2RL event creates an unusual meeting point between its celebrated motorsport past and a rapidly developing technological future. While discussions about the circuit’s place in top-level racing continue, including the possibility of an unexpected Formula 1 return later in 2026, on 5 September the focus will instead be on cars attempting to race, defend and overtake with no driver at all behind the wheel.
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