Formula 1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali has reinforced that the sport has no desire to step away from human drivers, despite the growing rise in autonomous vehicle technology.
“First of all – I start with the easy point – we will never go with a robot driver, the drivers will always be physical – it’s non-negotiable,” he told TechRadar Pro at a recent media Q&A session.
However he did recognize the huge role AI could play in helping the sport connect with its growing fan base around the world, particularly younger fans, as well as helping its teams perform more effectively during races.
AI in Formula 1
Domenicali did mention several pertinent use cases for AI in Formula 1, ranging from supporting a team’s decision-making process to manage the race, but also help a race director make the right decision – and even help alert the drivers themselves to potential safety issues on the track.
But he noted there may need to be future controls on how much teams spend on AI technology, as Formula 1 looks to ensure fairness as part of its budget cap, which limits the teams to $215 million per season.
“It’s a key point,” Domenicali noted, “we want to have a level playing field where all the teams can have more or less the same kind of financial contribution.”
“We want to make sure that all the AI discussions are beneficial, to make the right decision, prepare the car, simulate the car, but at the end of the day, the differentiating factor in our sport will always be that you are talking about emotions, about the way we connect with the people.”
Recent figures from the organization claim it has around 831 million fans around the globe, and with this showing no sign of slowing down, Domenicali was bullish about his approach to hitting a billion fans.
“It’s a big responsibility,” he admitted, “it goes beyond who we are now, to the fact that F1 is shaping relationships with people…it’s just an incredible opportunity to grow in our society – because we need to think big, that’s why we are here.”
“We are in a sport that is evolving – and without the right people, I know this is impossible,” he noted, “we are in a world where competition is part of our journey.”
“The world of entertainment today is big, and our fans can choose us, or choose other things that are not related to sport itself…without the right way to engage, and the right way to understand how we can capture their attention, it’s impossible.”
“Our people need to be focused on what they need to be focused on – and all the agents’ work is just amazing, so now we need to think bigger.”
Salesforce and Formula 1 leading the way
Domenicali was speaking at the recent Salesforce World Tour London 2026 event, where hailed the company’s long-running partnership with Formula 1.
The organization has embedded the company’s Agentforce platform into its systems, helping it improve engagement with fans across the world, and Domenicali was perhaps unsurprisingly bullish about the relationship between the pair.
“The journey starts, as always, with human relationships…we have to think big, we want to grow the awareness of who we are, understanding our customers, making sure we connect with them,” he told Zahra Bahrololoumi, President & UKI CEO at Salesforce, in her opening keynote at the event.
“We are quite a complicated sport – so we need a lot of agents to make sure that we are able to be effective…the sport is moving in a bigger, ecosystem of entertainers and relationships, and Salesforce is the right technology, with the right people and the right energy to make sure that we can go do it together.”
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