Formula 1 gets even smarter with AWS

The world's fastest sport is set for a computing upgrade after Formula 1 announced a new technology partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The deal, which came into effect in time for last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, will see Formula 1 benefit from AWS machine learning expertise to provide greater insight for fans and broadcasters alike.

AWS will become the official cloud and machine learning provider for Formula 1, with the company's logo appearing in on-screen TV graphics.

The partnership will see Formula 1 move, "the vast majority" of its existing infrastructure from on-premises data centres to AWS, as well as utilising several other AWS data analytics tools to uncover deeper insights on a sport that can change in less than a second.

AWS and Formula 1

The move comes as Formula 1 attempts to reovlutionise how the sport relates to its fan base, with detailed real-time data insights and more in-depth fan engagement also coming as part of the new partnership.

Going forward, AWS platforms will look to crunch mountains of data at every race to make race predictions and give fans insight into the split-second decisions and strategies adopted by teams and drivers.

For example, using data from a specific car as it turns every corner, Formula 1's data scientists can predict the best time to pit for fresher tires, as well as spotting if a driver is pushing themselves to the limit of their car's performance.

“For our needs, AWS outperforms all other cloud providers, in speed, scalability, reliability, global reach, partner community, and breadth and depth of cloud services available,” said Pete Samara, director of innovation and digital technology at Formula 1.

“By leveraging Amazon SageMaker and AWS’s machine learning services, we are now able to deliver these powerful insights and predictions to fans in real time. We are also excited that the Formula 1 Motorsports division will run High Performance Compute workloads in a scalable environment on AWS. This will significantly increase the number and quality of the simulations our aerodynamics team can run as we work to develop the new car design rules for Formula 1.”