How AI and cloud technology are reengineering Formula One racing
As you watch your favorite F1 drivers tear around the MSC Cruises Austrian GP this weekend — or maybe catch the much-hyped Hollywood flick starring Brad Pitt — know that technology is helping to drive the performance of Formula One racing.
To help collect, analyze and deliver valuable insights to racing teams, every F1 car houses about 300 sensors, which generate an incredible 1.1 million telemetry data points per second, transmitted from the cars to the pits, in real-time. For the past seven years, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been a key technology partner of the Formula One organization, leveraging its AI and cloud platforms to help process and interpret all this data from F1 vehicles.
Not bad for a 75-year-old sport that originally relied solely upon one tool for decades: a stopwatch.
“Today, there’s copious amounts of data collected, and so artificial intelligence and machine learning are key to make sense of it all,” explains Julie Souza, who leads AWS for sports. “Shaving off milliseconds can make a huge difference on the track, such as finding you’re over-rotating a particular lug nut, which may cause instability in the engine; and so a team like Scuderia Ferrari (an official AWS team partner since 2021) can glean very useful information to help with race strategy that was previously unmeasurable,” adds Souza. “That’s just one small example of the incredible amount of data analyzed at high speeds.”
Interestingly, with Formula One, aerodynamics data analysis has even yielded changes in car design. Called “Computational Fluid Dynamics,” simulations ran in the cloud analyze fluid flow around the car, and found that trailing cars required much more force to overtake. And so, this data led to changes in body design in 2022 that saw more than 30 percent more overtakes, much to the delight of F1 fans, no doubt.
Yours truly had a small taste of race car data collection and analytics, as I recently drove a Ferrari 296 GTB on a track in Fiorano, Italy, ahead of catching an F1 Grand Prix practice race. An engineer walked me through my telemetry data following several laps. How’d I do? I’ll stick to writing articles.
Data drives fan engagement, too
Sports and racing fans, it seems, are hungry for more information.
“Over the past few years, we’ve seen fans are more connected and engaged to their favorite sports when there is more data and deep insights, which helps them better understand and appreciate what they're watching,” says Souza.
Technology allows fans to curate their own viewing experience in a way that’s highly personal to them,” says Souza. “What’s interesting to me may not be relevant to you, and so data is unlocking true personalization, for a more engaging experience.”
For example, Souza says today’s sports broadcasts and apps can be highly customized — and will be even more so in the near future. “You can choose different angles and audio feeds, maybe buy tickets to an upcoming game or a jersey of your favorite player, follow a fantasy team or place a bet, chat with friends, or have Uber Eats deliver you something 20 minutes into a game.”
This personalization is paying off, according to Souza, highlighting the success of the partnership with Bundesliga that has returned a 68 percent increase in fan engagement on its data-heavy app, and 60 percent longer session times. “I always say if you feel smart about what you're watching, you’ll probably watch more of it.”
AWS has partnerships with other sports leagues, such as the NHL, NFL, PGA Tour and Germany’s Bundesliga soccer league. Amazon says soccer matches produce 3.6 million points of data per game.
Tech for broadcasters
Not only has technology changed how Formula One delivers F1 races to fans — streaming over various platforms and often with interactive elements, such as selecting specific camera views — it also helps broadcasters deliver a richer experience for viewers.
“Tracks can be six kilometers in length, and so the action is happening in a wide expanse and at the same time, and so data collected and packaged by AWS helps producers tell the story about what’s going on,” says Adrian De Luca, Director of Cloud Acceleration at AWS, for Asia Pacific and Japan.
Car telemetry can also inform broadcast producers on what may happen next, so they can prep videos and graphics for viewers.
“Data can be predictive, such as when an overtake might be expected,” adds De Luca. “Data is collected as the cars are going by, via beacons placed every 150 to 200 meters or so, that collect telemetry of all 20 cars, which is then sent to F1’s headquarters in Biggin Hill.”
De Luca says more than 500 terabytes of data is collected each race weekend.
Tech is helping broadcasters in other ways. NHL and AWS delivered the first cloud-based broadcast in March 2024, delivering high-quality and personalized live games with minimum onsite gear, and cutting CO2 emissions by more than 2 metric tonnes.
Tech can also help unlock previously unviewed coverage. While recorded, Souza says only 15 percent of PGA Tour’s 30,000-plus shots during a tournament are televised. A customized app can deliver the remaining 85 percent, and with AI-produced commentary in multiple languages.
For safety’s sake, too
Sensors, coupled with AI and machine learning and cloud processing, is also being leveraged for greater safety of players.
In the NFL, where about 500 million points of data is collected per week, data helps identify players that are at risk of injury, and helps coaches and owners make impactful changes. This resulted in 700 fewer missed games in this last season, says Souza. “It’s a win-win-win, as top players want to be on the field, as do the team owners who spent a lot of money on them, and fans want to see their favorite players.”
Another case for data analysis in the NFL: Instead of all players wearing the same helmets, sensors identified that players in different positions were hit differently. As a result, today there are eight position helmet shapes to reduce the odds of head injuries, such as concussions.
Whether it’s crossing the endzone or the finish line, tech is unlocking deeper experiences for athletes, fans and broadcasters alike.