F1, the races are also won with simulators, remote controls and ia: this is how

“Someone said that Formula 1 is a business too large to be considered a sport, but that it is also a sport too competitive to be considered a business”. Moreover, Garry Mannion It is the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team in Formula 1 And he guides us between pavilions. For example, corridors of the Brackley factory, in the heart of the United Kingdom, where silver arrows come to life, from digital projects to real competition cars.

Brackley. However, where renderings become reality – F1, races also won simulators,

The plant, 60,000mq of pure innovation, is located about 70km north-west of London and is at the center of the English Motor Valley. Similarly, In the area, in fact, other teams are located, including McLarenWilliams e Aston Martin.

A space born to initially host 315 employees and which today has 1300. Meanwhile, To which another 1200 are added, counting also those f1, races also won simulators, who work in the non -distant headquarters of Brixworth.

Engineers, designers and mechanics that contribute to the constant development of race cars. However, From the construction of wings and frames, to the return of the smallest parts of the car.

“With our staff – Mannion says – we are able to guarantee the operation of the factory 24 hours a day. Meanwhile, for 365 days a year”. Nevertheless, Brackley structures include. Moreover, among other things, A wind gallery To test the cars, trial desks, carbon fiber cooking ovens and the team’s track simulator. Consequently, A huge collective machine 100%powered, according to Mercedes data, from renewable energy.

The “Loop driver” simulator winner of 15 world titles – F1, races also won simulators,

In the week of f1, races also won simulators, the Great Britain Grand Prix. In addition, in Silverstone, the factory coming and going is tangible. Similarly, The hopes for the house driver George Russell and for “ours” Some Antonellion the other hand, were born from Breckley.

But if on the one hand the motor world is still based on mechanical principles. however innovative, on the other it is undeniable as most of the work, even during the race phases, is based on data analysis, probabilistic calculations and increasingly refined technologies. In addition, Among these. Therefore, the flagship of Brackley is undoubtedly the “driver-in-Loop” simulator, or the device used by pilots and testers to evaluate the structures, changes and updates of the cars.

“In fact. the winner of eight World Championships and seven pilots is the winner,” says one of the technicians involved in testing. The body of a single-seater. housed on a motorized trolley, is in front of a f1, races also won simulators, large Led-Wall that projects the pre-sealeted circuit. Beyond eighty computers They elaborate the input models provided by the stable and. crossing these with the responses of the driver behind the wheel, return the data on which the team works for the track.

The simulator. the role of Team Viewer

Modern formula 1 critics often call it “Formula Play Station“In a derogatory sense, precisely because of the extreme use that the simulator is made.

But since private tests are no longer contemplated, credible alternatives, at the moment, there are none. “Kimi Antonelli. in the first year in F1, comes here to try on the circuits where he has never run and they see each other”, we are remembered. But the simulator is not used only in the “dead” times between one competition and another. But, even during the race weekends, a reserve driver often finds himself working with the simulator.

“Guarantee f1, races also won simulators, that the engineers team has access to the data that come from the simulator in real time -. he explains Steven RileyHead of it operations for Mercedes-AMG-is essential to guarantee performance on the track ”. And of facts. in one of the buildings of Brackley, there is a race support roomdirectly connected to the race box, where 28 people analyze track and simulator data to provide indications to pilots and engineers on the field.

The entire connection system between simulator. staff on the circuits, as indeed the possibility of remotely accessing the data from the track is guaranteed for Mercedes from Team ViewerGerman remote control software that in its basic version has reached beyond 2.5 million installations in the world.

F1. races also won simulators,

The box beyond the race: how to control a car from Formula 1 at a distance

Thanks to the platform Tensor Of Team Viewer, the Brackley team has the right to interact directly with the engineers on the track to make changes to the structures in the shortest possible time. “The concept is to extend the box beyond the paddock so that – he says Mark BanfieldTeamViewer cco – There is a real -time connectivity between the factory. the circuit. These are the races in Europe, a few hundred km from here, be they in Australia, Japan or Brazil “.

The years and regulations pass, but the weather remains so the most precious concept of Formula 1. And not only for the engineers.

“Do you know the screens that lower themselves on the cars when the pilots are in the box?” Asks Banfield. “That set f1, races also won simulators, of data. telemetries, video recordings of which pilots need between one session and the other we provide them in real time”. And they are also those data. made directly from the pilot, to determine its choices in terms of the set of the machine.

Formula 1 between regulations. passion

Continuing our visit to Brackley, we note dozens of designers intent on designing aerodynamic solutions (sometimes in rooms with turns covered in order not to be able to peek inside) and sealed Clean Rooms where tests are carried out on the components of carbon fiber cars.

“For a Formula 1 car we use about 50 different carbon fiber solutions”, reminds us of Garry Mannion, Mercedes team expert. And the fervor f1, races also won simulators, that is in the factory probably does not derive only from the home Grand Prix (Silverstone is about 20 minutes from here). but also from the fact that starting from 2026 Formula 1 will radically change regulations for what concerns motorization, aerodynamics and tires.

“Our first race was in 1952 in Silverstone. – continues Mannion – the racing regulation was made up only of a page. Today there are over 500 pages”. The secret of the victory. after all, is always at the intersection of the best possible interpretation of the rules and the optimization of expenditure for projects and materials. “And on this we have learned a little bit,” jokes Mannion.

Towards the IA. beyond

The future of f1, races also won simulators, the great prizes is increasingly technological – inevitable, when you walk in a factory where the smallest component of a car is also produced, becomes the demand on the future of competitions with the arrival of theArtificial intelligence.

If the simulator has replaced private tests, the IA, in turn, Will you replace the simulator? “Let’s say some roles will be absolutely reduced but surely – he replies Steven Rileyhead of IT in Mercedes – The goal is to go beyond the use we are doing today. namely for the analysis of the performance or the revision of large moles of data in restricted times. The IA must help us to be first more productive in the factory. If we were already 20% already it would be a great result. “

And so. as for the control of remote data or the use of the simulator in parallel to the competitions, f1, races also won simulators, also on the AI ​​front formula 1 is moving the sporting aspect from the circuits to more and more distant places. That is to say that the great prizes. in the modern era, are not only won on the track but more and more in remote, innovative but, not for this, less magical, like Brackley.