In a sport where tenths of a second can mean the difference between victory and second place, the need for Formula 1 teams to have effective IT systems that can support crucial split-second decisions is crucial.
As one of the sport’s dominant forces in recent decades, Mercedes F1 appears to have long recognized the importance of IT and technology, enlisting major partners such as AMD and HPE to supply its systems.
During the recent Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, Ny Breaking spoke to Michael Taylor, IT director at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, to delve deeper into the IT challenges of running a top team, and what the future might (perhaps unsurprisingly) look like dominated by AI tools.
AI standard
“We are a learning-based organization and we always give ourselves space and scope to assess our performance and understand what lessons we can learn,” Taylor tells us, in what is honestly one of the biggest understatements we have ever done . heard this year.
Mercedes F1 is a multiple winner of the Formula 1 Drivers and Teams World Championships in the 21st century and is undoubtedly one of the sport’s leaders when it comes to technological advancement.
The next era of technology will be dominated by AI, and Formula 1 will not escape the rise of this new dawn, with Taylor noting that it is already firmly entrenched within the team.
“We’re probably in the same situation as many organizations where generative AI has landed – it’s almost the norm now,” he says, highlighting the benefits of time savings and efficiency improvements brought about by generative AI tools.
“The ability to generate things, or at least start them from scratch, effectively saves people time,” he adds, noting code generation via Copilot, voice-to-text tools and digital assistants as particular calls useful.
“I can imagine that in the long term we will mainly be able to use generative AI to really give us a better insight into our data points and activities.”
However, Taylor adds that Formula 1 as a sport is sometimes not quite a perfect fit for some generative AI tools, noting that “the challenge with (gen AI), compared to the world we fight in, is that our challenge is deterministic is. “
“We want to determine what the optimal setup and configuration of the car is at this time… and Gen AI is not ideally suited to that.”
So with generative AI such a hot topic and Formula 1 a sport dominated by knowledge, Taylor says it can be a challenge to combine these challenges with the desire to try new tools, all under the umbrella of controls necessary when running IT for a large organization.
“We have quite a curious workforce, and a very eager to learn one as well,” he laughs, “and we’re lucky in many ways as a lot of what we do is fail fast and learns quickly – which lends itself well to people who just learn relatively quickly. embracing and picking up new things and using them in the context they need to operate.”
As always in Formula 1, money talks, especially in an era of cost ceilings where even spending on IT software is limited.
“It certainly adds a complexity of challenges because ultimately our organization is all focused on adding performance to the car,” notes Taylor, “and when you’re competing for the same pot of money, half a million pounds of storage investment . versus a new front wing or some aerodynamic improvements, you have to make sure that the business case really makes sense!”
This has led to increased support for open source, free-to-use software, as Taylor says: “It now plays a much bigger role in enterprise technology than ever before, and I think this trend will continue.
“Sometimes it’s a bit of a challenge which horse you support, because that community is evolving and changing very quickly, and our job is to monitor and make sure we’re supporting the right horse.”
How do you sell IT upgrades to a Formula 1 boss? Taylor responds with an answer that will likely be familiar to administrators everywhere: it’s all about due diligence, demonstrating the benefits and quantifying them where possible.
“Formula 1 is a compromise, and it has always been that way,” he says. “If we had more time, if we had more money and more resources, we could make the car go fast – it’s that simple.”
“For example, if we were to invest heavily in AI, the compromise would have to be made somewhere else in the business – so we just have to make sure that all the numbers add up and that the benefits are real!”
An AI future for F1?
Looking ahead, Taylor highlights the huge changes coming to Formula 1 in 2026, with sweeping new rules set to significantly alter the look and construction of the cars as part of a bid to encourage closer racing.
“2026 offers an opportunity for a team to effectively align people, processes and technology around regulations, and perhaps take a little more of a leap than a step,” he says, emphasizing that the 2025 championship is the closest in the neighborhood could have been coming for years. The convergence of performance typically observed at the end of a regulatory cycle is becoming a reality.
“In terms of major technological innovation – let’s face it, AI is going to play a role – where in the future it’s unclear at this stage, but all teams are now finding ways and starting to embrace it and create those AI capabilities – and will keep doing that.”
“Tech will play a key role, as with everything,” he concludes. “We obviously can’t do without it. It is a fundamental part of what we do and use every day and will continue to be so. to be like that.”