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Technology has long been the key to success in motorsports. F1 teams have adopted technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve performance. But as AI advances accelerate every day, racing car giants are redoubling their efforts.
Peter Fox – Formula 1 | Formula 1 | fake images
WOKING, England — Inside McLaren’s massive technology center, artificial intelligence is not something that is shouted from the rooftops.
However, the 60-year-old motorsport giant He is an avid user of technology behind the scenes.
At the McLaren Technology Center (MTC), located in Woking, England, the company explained how it is using AI to improve its chances on the Formula One track.
“We are an organization that has used traditional machine learning technology products for a long time,” Dan Keyworth, McLaren’s chief enterprise technology officer, said at a press conference at the MTC in October.
Using machine learning, McLaren can base its decision-making on probability, which in turn helps it train its AI models, according to Keyworth.
The racing firm showed numerous examples of technological innovation at the MTC. They range from monitoring real-time data inside its secretive mission control room, to using “digital twins” (3D digital versions of physical objects) of real cars that allow teams to model the conditions under which real vehicles will need to work.
Keyworth said there are three main areas where McLaren is applying AI in a big way: improving car performance, daily operations and marketing.
A replica of Lando Norris’ Formula 1 McLaren, with sponsors including McLaren, Pirelli, CNBC, Jack Daniels and Google Chrome, will be displayed at the Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, on April 2, 2024.
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He added that generative AI tools are offering new capabilities for F1 teams, including the ability to run in-depth simulations of certain possibilities that could take place during races.
That could range from determining the ideal time a car should spend on pit stops to deciding which tires to add to the vehicle when replacing an old set.
“What AI allows us to do from a generative perspective is play out more of those real-world scenarios and say, ‘What will happen?'” Keyworth said.
Some of those scenarios are starting to lead to “pretty accurate” results, to an “almost terrifying” degree, he added.
F1 is not new to technological advances
Technology has long been the key to success when it comes to motorsport, and not just for McLaren.
Several F1 teams have been exploiting modern advances in technology for years – from cloud computing to artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Aston Martin Aramco, for example, touts the use of so-called “data lakes” (massive data storage centers) and machine learning technology to learn from large volumes of data to predict patterns and improve decision-making.
Clare Lansley, chief information officer at Aston Martin Aramco, says machine learning algorithms can combine data on tyres, weather and track conditions, and use predictive analytics to optimize decisions.
in a April blog postHe stated that the speed at which these events are occurring is “truly impressive.”
“By adopting this technology, we will be able to free up several engineers to focus more on the performance of the car,” he said.
Another F1 team implementing AI to improve its on-track performance and strategy is Red Bull-owned Visa Cash App RB.
Peter Bayer, CEO of RB, said earlier this year that the Italian F1 team is using AI to race down to “hundreds and thousandths of a second.”
At an event with the company’s software partner Epicor at its factory in Faenza, Italy, Guillaume Dezoteux, head of vehicle performance at RB, said AI can help inform teams when planning, since “it means there is no need to run.” 100 simulations.”
Connectivity is the “lifeblood of sport”
Keyworth noted that none of the innovation taking place within McLaren would happen without the help of IT tools and equipment from partners such as cisco and Google.
“Connectivity is probably the lifeblood of the sport,” he said before the Mexico City Grand Prix race on October 27. “Without it, nothing starts. No car can drive safely on the track.”
A key component behind McLaren’s ability to keep data flowing to its teams in real time is its so-called mobile data centers.
These are miniature server rooms that are flown to different races around the world to keep the digital components of the operation constantly online.
“These mobile data centers fly alongside the famous F1 cars to each race venue and are brought online remotely to enable real-time data storage and processing” from the MTC, Chintan Patel, told CNBC. Cisco’s chief technology officer for the UK and Ireland.
Another area where AI is adding benefits is marketing, according to McLaren’s Keyworth.
For fans and partners, he said, McLaren is increasingly trying to “enrich the journey and the experience, and make our fans feel more connected.”
With AI, McLaren can better target fans located in more nascent markets for F1, such as the United States, where the sport has gained popularity, for example by personalizing information for fans at certain times of the day.
Meanwhile, when it comes to using AI on the business side, Keyworth said, the main area of improvement the company is seeing is “making everyone’s lives richer, more agile, faster and more efficient.”
“It’s not a labor replacement, it’s a ‘laborious’ replacement,” he said. “You want to unlock your team to do the things you hired them to do, not to work with the overhead that comes with their role.”
