5 Ways Mercedes F1 Harnesses Data And The Latest Tech To Perfect Race Day Performance

2 weeks ago

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Steve Riley, caput of IT operations and work guidance astatine Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, gave ZDNET a circuit of his racing team's state-of-the-art exertion field successful Brackley, UK, and reflected connected the effect integer and data person connected nan sport.

"Technology is much important successful Formula One than ever," he said. "Any benignant of manufacturing usability successful an F1 squad galore years agone wouldn't needfully beryllium rather arsenic reliant connected IT services arsenic they are today."

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Having worked for nan racing squad for almost a decade, Riley has a clear vantage constituent from which to measure nan value of technology. He told ZDNET that nan IT statement has a important domiciled to play arsenic nan squad seeks on-track and off-track capacity improvements.

"We're cardinal to that effort because we're 1 of nan fewer departments that activity crossed each areas of nan business," he said.

Here are 5 ways Mercedes F1 uses exertion to guarantee nan highest levels of performance.

1. Getting nan basal rights

Riley explained really his IT usability supports nan squad successful nan buildup to title weekend. The process originates astatine nan way connected nan Monday earlier nan race, erstwhile a setup unit starts positioning racks, connecting cables, and tweaking systems.

"We return a mobile information halfway astir nan globe pinch us," he said. "So, they've been mounting that up, making judge networks are up and running, making judge our storage, our compute, our Wi-Fi network, are each coming and correct."

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Riley recognized that shifting IT systems astir nan globe and ensuring everything is fresh for racing involves difficult work. The cardinal to occurrence is preparation.

"It's a large situation logistically. To make that effort hap is daunting, but fortunately, we've sewage a batch of reliable processes to guarantee our IT infrastructure is each successful nan correct spot astatine nan correct time," he said.

"We've sewage a checklist-type approach, which intends we're capable to group up our infrastructure and support it done nan events and past battalion it up astatine nan extremity of each title and bring it backmost to Brackley aliases nonstop it consecutive to nan adjacent event."

2. Doing much than break-fix

Riley recognized that a batch of his team's operational activity focuses connected efficiency. However, while F1 teams must beryllium capable to trust connected their IT systems and services, there's besides room for technological innovation.

"I'd alternatively group beryllium moving connected nan value-add type projects that we support astir nan statement than conscionable keeping nan lights on," he said.

"What useful for america is managing nan full IT workflow arsenic efficiently arsenic possible. Then we tin walk little clip doing break-fix and much clip delivering results."

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Riley said his section has spent nan past 12 months honing nan team's retention platforms and networks to summation reliability. Strong foundations create much room for maneuver.

"Now we are acold much progressive successful that future-facing speech because we tin get a batch of nan basics right. That occurrence gives you a spot astatine nan table," he said.

"As an IT person, uncovering retired that you request to lend to a task wherever nan extremity end is long-decided and investments are already made isn't really wherever you tin adhd value. We want to beryllium successful nan speech and adhd our expertise and know-how to nan discourse successful which we run to present performance."

3. Finding nan crown jewels

Riley's operational usability tin usage these IT foundations to thief group crossed nan squad find performance-changing insights -- and that's a acold from straightforward task.

"We person truthful overmuch information that being capable to find nan worldly that's of worth to america quickly is simply a existent skill," he said.

The cardinal to uncovering nan crown jewels, said Riley, is ensuring you cognize your data.

"We person engineers reviewing circumstantial elements of data, but we also, from an IT standpoint, person entree to rather a spot of telemetry from our infrastructure," he said.

"Finding nan astir valuable information points comes backmost to having due alerting, monitoring, and observability platforms successful place, which are focused connected precisely nan types of things that are of liking to us."

Riley useful intimately pinch various exertion partners and is ever looking for caller ways to amended IT operations.

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For example, he believes TeamViewer's Digital Employee Experience level could thief nan IT usability find and resoluteness issues proactively.

"That's 1 constituent of our IT infrastructure that we don't needfully person that level of instrumentation around," he said.

"There's a immense magnitude of information that's captured connected each endpoint we have, and it'd beryllium absorbing to usage that exertion to spot precisely what's happening retired there."

4. Embracing integer twins

Riley said 1 area of performance-motoring wherever information and emerging exertion already salary dividends is racing simulation.

Mercedes F1's driver-in-loop simulator replicates nan behaviour of a existent car successful a controlled integer situation astatine Brackley.

"We've been moving a simulator for galore years. This is nan sixth loop of nan simulator, and we've been moving it for a mates of years now," he said.

Riley explained really nan team's drivers, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, usage nan simulator to believe driving astir title circuits, and nan squad tin research imaginable car configurations.

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Drivers and nan simulator squad activity intimately pinch engineers to trial solutions for real-time issues.

"The relationship betwixt nan simulator and nan way is key," he said. "The mathematical exemplary is arsenic adjacent arsenic we tin get to nan car, truthful we tin tune a setup alteration and trial caller parts successful nan simulator earlier utilizing them connected nan track."

The world quality of F1 intends nan title squad is often overseas. TeamViewer's distant connectivity platform, Tensor, ensures unit tin log in, show results, and make changes to nan simulator devices successful Brackley from immoderate location.

"A batch of nan creation of nan car takes spot successful mathematical modeling and physics, and that connectivity intends we tin create a integer copy of nan car successful a measurement that is meticulous successful position of representing what we person astatine nan track," said Riley.

5. Exploring AI carefully

Riley said nan situation his squad faces pinch nan rollout of AI-enabled services will beryllium acquainted to different business leaders.

"Which guidance do you spell in? We're each utilizing AI, whether it's ChatGPT aliases Microsoft Copilot, aliases immoderate of nan different models, successful our individual lives. So, what do we do arsenic an organization? How do we unafraid that exertion from an endeavor standpoint, and bring it successful safely?"

The mantra for a high-profile F1 squad exploring AI is amended safe than sorry. While generative and agentic AI services can supply a competitory advantage, nan delicate quality of racing information intends explorations into AI must beryllium pursued carefully.

"AI is an absorbing situation for us. How do we centralize our approach, and really do we leverage nan corporate benefits of shared know-how astir nan topic?" he said.

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The competitory quality of F1 makes Riley reticent to stock specifications astir AI-powered, performance-enhancing activities. However, he could spot areas wherever copilot-like technologies tin play a domiciled successful nan organization.

"We've sewage immoderate information scientists moving connected ML and AI-type capabilities, and it's awesome what they're doing," he said.

"But I deliberation nan benefits of AI, arsenic we tin spot them, will beryllium for a overmuch wider group of group crossed our organization, not conscionable those folks who are specifically looking astatine data."