From Game to Operating System: Why the Cosworth–iRacing Partnership Could Redefine Motorsport by 2030
On August 28, 2025, iRacing announced a landmark partnership with Cosworth, the legendary engineering firm producing everything from engines to steering wheels to, pertinently for this announcement, software.
At first glance, this might sound like a “nice upgrade” for sim racers who want to feel a little closer to the action: Cosworth’s Pi Toolbox, highly regarded in professional race telemetry, will be made available to all iRacing users.
Cosworth is no stranger to the sim racing space, having already released consumer versions of some of their highly recognizable, real-life steering wheels.
But this news is far bigger than just new features for a PC sim.
Here is a quote from the announcement:
“The launch of the collaboration aligns with iRacing’s wider ambitions, including the expansion into console gaming through upcoming iRacing Studios titles like iRacing Arcade, and the introduction of officially licensed NASCAR and IndyCar games.”
This is underselling what the platform’s actual ambitions appear to be.
Here is a quote from Cosworth in the same announcement which more closely reflects what appears to be going on here:
“This is more than just a partnership – it’s a performance ecosystem.”
What we are really witnessing is iRacing’s shift from being “just a game” to positioning itself as the operating system of motorsport.
And that move opens up entirely new business models, in education, industry, sponsorship, and even data monetization.
This is not about making sim racing more realistic, at least that shouldn’t be the ultimate goal.
It’s about turning iRacing into a platform so essential that engineers, drivers, teams, universities, and sponsors all have to plug into it.
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In less than 500 words.
Why the iRacing partnership with Cosworth matters so much
Cosworth’s Pi Toolbox is not a casual add-on. It’s the same platform used by teams in professional motorsport series to analyze car performance, compare driver inputs, and make setup decisions. Maybe some engineer played around with it in their spare time, but this was hardly consumer tech.
By integrating it directly into iRacing, this level of analysis is suddenly democratized.
Aspiring engineers, amateur sim racers, and university students now have access to tools once reserved for professionals.
More importantly, Cosworth introduces itself to consumers, and iRacing is now positioned not just as a consumer subscription product but as a professional-grade environment for motorsport workflows.
The strategic shift from game to industry tool
Up until now, iRacing has competed in the same category as Assetto Corsa or Automobilista: immersive, high-fidelity sims for hardcore players.
Yes, it was differentiated by its high cost and industry leading lobbies, but even if sim racing grows further, those same factors could be intimidating for a lot of potential players, putting the brakes on iRacing’s larger growth potential.
The Cosworth deal signals a new trajectory: iRacing isn’t just entertainment anymore. It’s becoming infrastructure. The difference is massive:
A game monetizes through subscriptions, DLC, and esports.
An industry tool monetizes through B2B licensing, education programs, OEM partnerships, and professional workflows.
That shift is what makes this partnership so lucrative.
If iRacing successfully becomes the default environment for motorsport data and simulation, it stops competing with other games. It starts being considered along with something like MATLAB, and that’s a much larger market.
Five angles that show where the iRacing partnership with Cosworth could go
So where exactly could this lead?
Here are five complementary angles that together form the roadmap for iRacing’s evolution from sim to operating system.
1. EdTech platform: The MATLAB of motorsport
If you’re an aspiring engineer in the next few years, perhaps you’ll have no choice but to have a project portfolio inside iRacing.
The same way aerospace students can’t avoid MATLAB, or mechanical engineers can’t avoid SolidWorks, motorsport students will need to show they can analyze data, build setups, and run workflows in the iRacing/Cosworth environment.
To bring this back to the current paradigm, in the same way that aspiring drivers can build their profile on iRacing, it’s entirely feasible that aspiring engineers will also have to build their technical credentials on the same platform.
That opens a massive B2B market.
Universities could license iRacing seats as part of their motorsport engineering curriculum.
Coursework could require students to submit projects analyzing iRacing telemetry the same way they currently analyze vehicle dynamics in lab simulations.
In other words, iRacing stops being a hobby. It becomes part of formal education.
As a side benefit, so much of motorsport success comes down to communication between the various teams; can you imagine how that could improve if an early career driver and engineer pairing teamed up early?
Presuming teams are willing to hire them as a set, their chemistry acquired over years of working together could be a decisive competitive advantage.
2. Industry workflow platform: Motorsport’s Microsoft Teams
Right now, teams work in the same disparate environments as their corporate counterparts.
What happens when iRacing centralizes all of that into one environment?
One of the innovations of the Motorsport Sponsorship Accelerator is that it proposes using iRacing as a meeting place to share ideas and provide support in the sponsorship search.
What happens when that functionality actually gets codified into the platform?
Drivers and engineers can run practice sessions, analyze telemetry live, share setups, and debrief in the same space.
Cosworth’s Pi Toolbox is the first “app” on the iRacing platform but conceivably more could follow.
Tire models, aero simulators, even sponsor dashboards could all live inside iRacing.
That’s not a game.
That’s an operating system for motorsport.
And once teams build their workflows on it, the switching costs are enormous, and that goes for both iRacing and Cosworth.
If in fact iRacing, and with it Pi Toolbox, become the standard for engineering students, what will they want to work with when the join the workforce?
As they progress in their career, what will they continue to favor?
3. Data as currency: Monetizing the world’s largest telemetry pool
Every iRacing session will now produce pro-grade telemetry data.
Multiply that across 350,000 users and you have a gigantic data set off of which to monetize the ecosystem even further.
That data is valuable.
OEMs could study it for product development.
Tire companies could assess reactions to a new tire model.
Broadcasters could overlay it for fan engagement.
Think of what Strava did for running and cycling: the activity itself became the product.
iRacing could do the same for motorsport.
4. Credentialing: Building the LinkedIn of Motorsport
If Pi Toolbox analysis becomes standard in sim racing, iRacing could lead the way further by offering certification pathways.
Complete analysis modules, hit performance benchmarks, and you earn badges that prove competence as a driver or engineer.
That could evolve into partnerships with series, teams, or accreditation bodies. A “Level 1 iRacing Data Analyst” could carry weight like a CFA or AWS certification today.
Incredible as it may sound, down the road in the not-so-distant future, it could become career capital.
Imagine job postings saying: “iRacing telemetry analysis proficiency required.”
That’s not crazy at all; it’s a logical extension of what this partnership sets in motion.
5. B2B Sponsorship Ecosystem: Beyond Liveries
Sponsorship in sim racing has mostly meant putting a logo on a car. With Cosworth onboard, iRacing can sell much deeper activations:
A tire manufacturer could sponsor a simulation layer that teaches engineers about degradation.
A fuel company could integrate its models into endurance races.
An OEM could run branded data challenges inside iRacing Arcade or iRacing Pro.
This is where iRacing stops being a consumer subscription and starts being a sponsorship activation platform. And because the ecosystem touches both casual players and professionals, the reach is unmatched.
Why the iPhone analogy works
Think of iRacing as the iPhone circa 2007. Before apps, it was a nice device. After apps, it became the platform people lived inside.
Cosworth’s Pi Toolbox is the first app. Once the precedent is set, others will follow. Aero models, tire simulators, setup libraries, even sponsor dashboards; all could live natively in the iRacing environment.
At that point, iRacing isn’t just a sim. It’s the default platform where motorsport happens. Drivers, engineers, sponsors, and fans all working inside the same ecosystem.
The defensive moat
What makes this move especially smart is that it builds a moat no competitor can easily cross.
Assetto Corsa Competizione and Le Mans Ultimate may offer great realism, but they can’t claim to be the professional standard used by both IndyCar and WEC teams for real-world workflows.
By positioning itself as infrastructure, iRacing is no longer competing with other games. It’s competing with industry standards, and that’s a much stickier market.
Also, can we really call it “competing” if they are the first to do what so many others talk about: bridging the sim and real racing worlds?
Implications for motorsport series
For racing series, this evolution changes the game. Partnering with iRacing no longer means just licensing cars and tracks. It means embedding the series’ identity into the workflows of the next generation of engineers and drivers.
IndyCar is already onboard, with a dedicated console title coming in 2026 and it seems like a huge missed opportunity not to include the new telemetry functionality (how could they when IndyCar comes up several times in the partnership in the announcement as an actual user of Cosworth’s software?).
NASCAR is following with its 2025 release. Could they also be on board with this?
Expect other series to join, because the risk of being absent from the platform grows with every new “app” that comes online.
Bottom line: if you’re not in iRacing, you may not be in the motorsport consciousness of the next generation.
The Road to 2030
So where does this go? By 2030, it’s entirely plausible that iRacing will be:
The educational standard in motorsport engineering programs
The workflow hub for professional teams, from grassroots to WEC
The largest telemetry dataset in motorsport history, monetized across industries
The credentialing platform for aspiring engineers and drivers
The B2B sponsorship layer where technical partners engage fans and professionals simultaneously
That’s not a game. That’s an operating system.
Final word on the iRacing partnership with Cosworth
The Cosworth–iRacing partnership will be remembered as the moment sim racing actually crossed the line into real-world motorsport infrastructure.
What began as entertainment is now becoming a professional tool, an educational platform, a data marketplace, and a sponsorship engine.
In short: iRacing is no longer just where people play motorsport. It’s where motorsport lives.
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Main image credit: www.cosworth.com