Beer brands spend millions of dollars each year to cut through a crowded, noisy category and reach consumers. 

So, to grow sales and market share, you need to consistently stand out and be top of mind in culture.

So, as a famous brand in the world of sports, we set out to address another pressing issue in sports culture: the overwhelming pressure that F1 drivers face today. This surely would deliver against our goal of growing our cultural relevance.

Our brief became to remind everyone who loves the world’s fastest-growing sport — F1 racing — that joy is an essential component of the sport, and of an active lifestyle in general.

We rekindled a joy more powerful than the win-at-all-costs mentality afflicting the sport of F1 today, with the first-ever real-vs.-virtual F1 race.

This tech-forward sporting event put a real-life F1 driver up against avatars of retired drivers from more joyous eras of racing history. Logan Sargeant, a young F1 driver today, raced AR avatars of his original racing heroes, driven by AI.

Our race featured virtual, data-driven versions of F1 legends like Mario Andretti, Jacques Villeneuve, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Jenson Button, and Damon Hill, airing live on TV, like a traditional F1 race.

And we did it all through AR, AI machine learning, and telemetry, using tech to quite literally change the game of F1 racing and create the first sporting event that spanned different dimensions of reality.

Logan raced in his car on a track — like he normally would — at Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix. But his digitized opponents appeared as augmented reality avatars in his racing helmet and on screen. With the help of AI, the avatars processed each of Logan’s driving moves as a collection of data points, which then informed each virtual opponent’s subsequent reaction, along with 45 years of historical racing data as context for each automated racing decision. This technology is so precise and true to racing physics that F1 teams have started using it themselves to model and test new racing strategies.

Fans first caught a glimpse of Lap of Legends at the United States Grand Prix in October 2023, and at premiere events in New York and Miami in early 2024. Then, the full program aired on AMC and BBC America in spring 2024, interspersed with stories of Logan’s journey as a driver, adding a level of personal narrative that no other race has offered. 

Now, the full program featuring the race and the human story behind it is also be available to stream on-demand via AMC, BBC America, and Roku.

And most importantly, we reminded the world that it’s only worth it if you enjoy it.

​