Prince William made a hilarious joke linked to his height after he mastered sitting behind the wheel of a replica of a Jaguar Formula E (FE) racing car. The Prince of Wales met drivers and engineers at Jaguar TCS Racing’s base in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, working on new technologies in the world’s fastest-growing electric motorsport.
In the factory, the prince was greeted by Antonio Felix da Costa, the 2020 FE world champion, who offered him the chance to sit behind the wheel of a development car, identical to the team’s current model. The heir, who’s 6ft 3in, joked that “There’s not a lot of room in the legs, is there?” as he settled into the car
Da Costa talked the prince through what it is like to race the car, as well as its equipment and features.
Before getting out of the car, the prince thanked the sportsman, adding “that’s fantastic”.
William, who is known to have an interest in the environment, appeared enthusiastic and engaged as he asked questions about the sustainability aspect of FE, something he described as “incredible”, and told engineers they are “doing very well”.
Meeting young engineers who had completed a graduate programme with Jaguar TCS Racing, the prince told them he had joked with their colleagues earlier that, with so many innovations in the sport, “at what point does the driver become the weak link?”
He added: “(At what point do we think) get rid of drivers, we’ll get an AI person in?… We’re probably not far off that, are we?”
Jack Lambert, head of technical integration at Jaguar TCS Racing, who gave the prince a tour of the premises, joked that William’s height could make racing in the car uncomfortable.
Mr Lambert said: “It’s great to see him in there, and that he was keen to get in it, because it’s not an easy thing to get in and out of by any means… so for him to be so open to doing that with everyone around, it’s not a small ask, but he was really keen.
“And his interaction with Antonio, and Antonio being able to tell him about his world while he’s behind the steering wheel, it’s awesome.”
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
