True to its avant-garde and historical spirit, NEOM McLaren has not come to Formula E just to compete, but to leave a legacy as a benchmark brand in world motorsport.
In that sense, the firm developed in collaboration with McLaren Racing, the car livery featuring illustrations based on visions of the future provided by the team’s drivers; René Rast and Jake Hughes, as well as four members of NEOM’s Graduate Development Program.
It is the first Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated livery to be seen in an FIA World Championship.
Thorough Procedure
Both divisions provided their vision, which was combined in an end-to-end AI process to produce the livery.
First, the submissions were processed by a text AI to create a series of prompts. Next, the prompts were used to create individual artwork for each vision using text-to-image AI.
Finally, the six images were combined into an artwork using image-to-image AI, before being enhanced to create the high-resolution graphics that McLaren Racing designers mapped onto the car.
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Pioneering Proposal
“We are delighted to be working with NEOM to create the first AI-designed livery in motorsport,” said Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing.
“When the car takes its place on the grid in London this weekend, it will mark a key moment in celebration of McLaren Racing’s 60th Anniversary. Our brand has a long history of innovation in motorsport and beyond, so while we celebrate our past, it’s just as important to look to the future and continue to break new ground,” he added.
NEOM graduates, critical to the design process, will join the NEOM McLaren Electric Talent Program. The plan is part of an ongoing initiative that will welcome a number of NEOM graduates to the team over the next few years, with the aim of developing talent through experience within a world-renowned high-performance organization.
Nadhmi Al-Nasr, CEO of NEOM, explained that “the partnership supports several commitments, from driving sustainable solutions and nurturing Saudi talent through development opportunities, to offering new technology to the world.”
“We have harnessed creativity and innovative technology to create the AI-generated livery to celebrate a milestone in McLaren’s history through visions of the future,” he concluded.
