The virtual garage

The ideal situation is for every department to access whichever data it needs, at any time, and interrogate it to achieve a competitive advantage

Formula 1 runs on data, and every element of each team’s operation is monitored and analysed to the n’th degree. The reason outfits such as Mercedes are so successful is because, among other factors, they have the best grasp of the data available to them and are able to process and understand it rapidly.

This is only possible thanks to a constantly evolving array of tools used to record, store, transmit and analyse that data. And, most importantly of all, filter out that which is most significant. The ideal situation is for every department to access whichever data it needs, at any time, and interrogate it to achieve a competitive advantage.

This data-driven approach to racing has seen the pit wall steadily extended. It now encompasses the garage, paddock and the factory the racecars are built in, creating a virtual garage environment where dedicated teams of engineers can analyse car performance and race strategy away from the high-pressure atmosphere of the track.

To achieve seamless data flow across the globe, teams need an IT and communications system that is both efficient and resilient, and it should come as no surprise that many teams’ current sponsorship deals with relevant technology companies go hand in hand with technical partnerships.

Moving data

With approximately 300 sensors installed on a car during a race weekend collecting gigabytes of data, simply moving the information harvested through practice, qualifying and race sessions is an onerous task. It needs to be moved quickly, so that both real-time and offline simulations can be conducted to refine set-ups, strategy calls calculated and preventative maintenance issues dealt with in good time.

Whereas a decade ago, most sensors only recorded parameters such as position, speed, load