High-speed data analysis keeps Red Bull in pole position
Reigning Formula 1 World Champions Infiniti Red Bull Racing give Danny Palmer an insight into their analysis of data and how using AT&T technology has helped keep them at the front of the grid
Formula 1 is the most technologically advanced sport in the world, where a hundredth of a second can be all it takes to win, and the swift analysis of data can play a significant role.
Infiniti Red Bull Racing knows all about winning, with the team crowned Constructors’ Champion in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and Sebastian Vettel World Drivers’ Champion in each of those seasons.
Much of the R&D that is enabling Red Bull to dominate F1 came from the ability to quickly analyse data taken from the track in the Operations Room at the Milton Keynes factory. It was there that Alan Peasland, technical partnership executive for Red Bull Technology, gave Computing an exclusive insight into how data is managed.
“While the car is going around the track, it’s beaming back telemetry live, so that goes into the garage and both the engineers there, and those at the factory will be analysing that,” he says.
“But at the same time when the car comes back into the garage, we can download richer data from it onto a laptop, which again we need to get back here for analysis.”
The Operations Room team is divided into three groups, each with a specialisation. An Aero Performance team is responsible for examining the bodywork, using telemetry to determine the effects of downforce and drag on the car, using that data to decide if a part needs to be changed to boost performance. The Vehicle Dynamics Group fulfils a similar role but examining handling, suspension and responsiveness of the car.
The two groups do most of their work during testing sessions, using data to determine how the car is performing in order to optimise it for that particular circuit.
The third team is the Race Strategy Group, which is essential on race days. They gather data about areas including lap times and tyre-wear while monitoring the pace of rivals.
“They’re basically trying to build a picture so we can plug it into our own bespoke software to effectively tell the driver wherever he’s qualified, and the position he should expect to finish, because the strategy has already run the race with those conditions with the information we’ve gathered,” says Peasland.
Changing script
But as former F1 commentator Murray Walker famously said “anything can happen in Grand Prix racing and it usually does”, with last year’s Championship decider in Brazil evidence of just that. Vettel was involved in a first lap incident, taking damage and dropping to 22nd while intermittent rain made conditions unpredictable. It took a huge effort to handle all the data being beamed back to Milton Keynes.
“It was one of the races when all of the departments in the ops room were still busy on the Sunday,” said Peasland.
“What tends to happen is the car is set up perfectly for the race, so the vehicle dynamics and aerodynamics groups switch to a health monitoring mode where they’re just really assessing the telemetry and making sure the car is performing.
High-speed data analysis keeps Red Bull in pole position
Reigning Formula 1 World Champions Infiniti Red Bull Racing give Danny Palmer an insight into their analysis of data and how using AT&T technology has helped keep them at the front of the grid
“But in Brazil, it was a different story because we had the damage so suddenly. The vehicle dynamics group had to monitor all the loads going through the suspension to make sure it could cope for the rest of the race.”
Essentially, the race weekend is about analysing and processing data as quickly as possible in order to give the team at the circuit the most benefit.
“We have that limited amount of time and we want to get that data back here analysed and back to the track. The richer the data, the more precision and accuracy we can get from it,” says Peasland.
AT&T has provided technical support to Red Bull Racing since 2012, with a high-speed global network the team is using bandwidth to transfer all that information from around the world back to HQ.
“We partner with the best in the business, who are already innovative in the product they provide us, and then we try to innovate on top of that. So, we may use the network in a different way to the competition, we’re always taking that technology and experimenting with it to see how we could have a competitive advantage,” Peasland says on the partnership with AT&T.
“During a race, it may be that we need to create packages of data to send to [Formula 1 race director] Charlie Whiting to lodge a complaint for a driving infringement. Or maybe prepare a package that defends a move we’ve made knowing someone could complain about it,” Peasland explains.
The package contains data including video footage, telemetry, engine speeds, even driver pedal position, all of which can help the stewards decide if an illegal manoeuvre occurred.
He uses the 2009 European Grand Prix, years before AT&T partnered with Red Bull to demonstrate how AT&T technology now makes a difference.
“There was an incident when Jenson Button had overtaken [Red Bull driver] Mark Webber but had gone off track to do it; they were all in the lead pack at the time,” says Peasland. “Jenson was actually slower than Mark, so once he got in front, the lead pack pulled away and Jenson held up Mark. So we had to put a case study together, get the telemetry and lodge the complaint to say we want this place given back.”
The stewards agreed it was an illegal move and ordered Button to give the place back to Webber. However, during the four laps it took to compile the data – about six and a half minutes – Webber had lost ground on the lead drivers, compromising his race.
Peasland tells Computing, using the expanded capabilities provided by AT&T, that if the incident occurred now, the data could be compiled and transferred in a fraction of the time.
“We know now, speaking to the IT guys that run this operation’s room, they would have done that in less than a lap, so four times quicker,” he says. “Purely through the size of the network, purely through the amount of data we can send down this huge pipe to the track that allows us to send more data far more quickly.”
High-quality data
The improved technology also enables Red Bull to send higher quality data to and from the track, which helps the engineers in the pit lane do their job more efficiently.
“Because we have this larger network we’re now able to send things like 3D CAD data which is very rich,” he says. “We’re innovating new ways we can make that lighter and quicker, and we can send CAD data to the track so the engineers can view a 3D model of the car, which gives them a far better view of the vehicle they’re about to go and work on.”
Peasland added that the quality of the data transferred between the factory and the track is so good the pit lane race engineers feel like they’re using the high-tech computers in the Milton Keynes factory, and that is helping the team win races.
“We’ve got people here who are working on very high-end systems and they’ve commented that when they’re at the track, it’s like they’re at the factory and that’s a great message,” he says. “That just shows that the network is good enough now to [provide a seamless experience].
“Really for us it’s about being able to send more data more quickly and know that it’s going to get there, and it is winning points on the track for us.”
When asked if the swift analysis of data was only going to become a more important factor in Formula 1, Peasland responds it will “absolutely” be the case.
“Because the systems are constantly evolving, the data we analyse is improving, and we’ll be able to gather more telemetry without impacting weight on the car as the technology evolves, so that’s more information we can analyse,” he says.
“Then how do we do analysis? How do we do it more quickly? All those things will be requirements, because that’s the only way we can stay ahead of the competition, able to constantly evolve the car and make bigger steps at each event.”
@DannyJPalmer