Surely you have heard of the term Big Data or the data era. This, which may seem like something from science fiction, is much more present in our daily lives than we might think. The value of data is crucial for large companies, but also for areas as specific as football or Formula 1. Although we still have a long way to go, the truth is that, in many segments, data is being taken advantage of in an extreme way. Next, we will learn more about the telemetry or the secret data of Formula 1 that is used to improve the cars to the maximum.
In this case we will focus on Lenovo. To do this, we have to go back to March of this year when the association of Formula 1 with the Chinese firm was announced to bring its cutting-edge technology to its operations. Over the course of several years, the experience of this company will be used in both base and field operations at the races. Hardware devices and high-level computing solutions such as servers will be used.
The value of data in Formula 1
With this alliance with the firm specializing in computing, Formula 1 showed that interest in data is not a passing fad. And it is that behind a broadcast of a race or data collection, there is a lot of technology. Without going any further, at the Spanish Grand Prix held in Barcelona, 70 kilometers of fiber optics were deployed to connect all the systems so that all the information could reach the United Kingdom in real time, which is where everything is processed. Here alliances with technology partners are especially important.
And, although television broadcasting is something never seen before and a challenge for technology, the truth is that the great revolution in Formula 1 is data. Many years ago, each team had its own telemetry system, but now it is the Technology and Media Center that works together with the teams. With them they have signed an agreement by which they undertake not to share this data. Some data can be published in the broadcasts, while others are secret. Roberto Dalla, director of the F1 Technology and Media Center, joked with the press about it saying that «could be a millionaire if they sold all the data they receive from each car to other teams«.
The sensor that measures the vibration of the engine, the sensor that measures the slip angle, the pressure exerted by the car… in total, the cars have between 300 and 400 sensors that collect information. It is estimated that they collect about 35 megabytes of data per lap, reaching between 750 GB and 1 TB of information in each test carried out. All of this is processed and analyzed by the engineers to make modifications to the cars or simply to start planning for the following season.
Technology and precision sport are increasingly going hand in hand and not only help to improve the functioning of everything, they also help to make the show much bigger. In the case of Formula 1, Lenovo estimates that the races are seen by more than 300 million people in the world and their presence positions them as one of the world’s leading technology companies.
