Ferrari and HP together for a better future. The role of services and systems made available from information technology it is now indispensable throughout the life cycle of a single-seater F1. Design, prototyping and production is strongly assisted by numerical control machinery, simulation and strategy management. Predictive models analyze thousands of pieces of information to provide the best strategic option in real time. The current “was” that is experiencing the highest category of motorsports is characterized by the pervasive use of the tools offered bythe aforementioned information technology.
The phases have been going on for some time designcalculation, simulation and prototyping of each component of the single-seaters are fully supported by specific software such as CAD (Computer Aided Design), CFDs (Computational Fluid Dynamics) e CAE (Computer Aided Engineering). The need to process large quantities of data (Big Data, ed.) gives the partnerships of the sector IT a strategic role. To get an idea of the reference context, just think about the competition strategies. The choice of the most effective race conduct can only be entrusted to probabilistic models during the competition.
THE software used by some teams implement the so-called Montecarlo model. Montecarlo or multiple probability simulation, is a mathematical technique used to estimate the possible outcomes of an uncertain event. The method was invented by John Von Neumann And Stanislaw Ulam during the Second World War, a useful measure to improve decision-making in uncertain conditions. It takes its name from the homonym Principalitysince the element of randomness is the core of the modeling approach it is effectively “similar” to a game of roulette.
Over the course of a race the strategists of the team must deal with events with a high level of uncertainty. They have to calculate the impact of weather conditions, the strategies of other teams, the timing of pit stops and determine how a potential incident could affect the outcome of a race. To understand the consequences of these probabilities, engineers use the method Montecarlo, to simulate billions of potential scenarios and outcomes. While there is no 100% correct answer, some strategies provide better odds of success than others.
The only certainties in choosing a strategy before the start of the race are the pace with a high quantity of fuel on board shown in free practice. Feedback which also in this case could be subject to variations, due to changing climatic conditions and the position on the starting grid. The probability of success of the hypothesized tactical plans varies in real timekeeping in mind so-called “unpredictable” events: entry of Safety Cartire puncture, track temperature, etc.
Such computations iteratively receive in input all the variables involved and consequently offer the possibility of providing, as a result, a certain distribution of the probability that the results will occur in an unpredictable process, as mentioned due to the intervention of very random variables. For a competition Formula 1changing conditions in various aspects include accidents and performance that the car is capable of achieving
The success story of the Oracle – Red Bull Racing partnership
As an IT infrastructure, Red Bull Ford Powertrains he chose a long time ago Oracle Cloud Infrastructureto entrust to the multinational Texan with headquarters in Austinthe processing power and tools needed to create the new generation of engines that, as we know, will debut this season 2026. Among the reasons for this choice we also find the fact that the models OCI (Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, ed.) standard high performance are ideal for complex processing, such as the simulations needed to optimize the power unit towards maximum performance and consequently meet the requirements of F1.
The models OCI high performance are processed in networkmade up of high performance computers HPC (High Performance Computer, ed.), starting from the analysis of computational fluid dynamics CFDs, used to quickly and efficiently model the combustion chambers of the new engine. We are referring to the chemical reaction that involves the oxidation of a fuel that takes shape by “burning” a suitable mixture of air and petrol. In the case of spark plug ignition, to have an efficient process it is essential that combustion occurs very quickly, favoring propagation in a short time to the entire combustion chamber and transferring the power to the piston.
To obtain this situation it is therefore necessary to concentrate the fuel especially in the spark plug area, so as to favor the triggering and acceleration of the process. In the case of type combustion HCCIwhich is being developed in current cars, it is instead important to mix the air and fuel homogeneously, so as to have an almost constant concentration and be able to start combustion in many points at the same time.
For this purpose, the management of the car’s flows is very important, from the intake phase to the exhaust phase. There are some organized rotary motions of the fluid charge, as they do not occur randomly, but are induced by appropriate geometric and kinematic conditions, persisting over time and favoring the efficiency of the process.
Ferrari and HP, strategic alliance to compete with Red Bull
Last week the partnerships multi-year period between Scuderia Ferrari And Hewlett Packard (HP, ed.). An alliance of enormous scope to the point of changing the “title name” of the team in Scuderia Ferrari HPalso with regards to username in platforms social. This is not a marketing operation very costly for the US multinational IT company, operating in both the sector hardware than in that software. In fact, there are rumors of a payment of 300 million dollars in favor of the prancing Horse over a time period not yet defined.
The sponsorship will take effect immediately sixth round which will be held on US soil in Grand Prix Of You love meof the next one weekendwhere the single-seaters and uniforms of the team Italian will host on display the logo of the IT giant. From this point of view it is important to note that, after a few years, perhaps too many, the historic Modena team returns to have a title sponsorfollowing the abandonment of Marlboro via the very unclear and often criticized program Win now.
The fact that the new main sponsor is an IT giant suggests that the collaboration will have to guarantee added value, in an area in which the team relied only on IT security solutions (Bitdefender, ed.), digital transformation & AI (HCL Software, ed.) and Genesysan American company specializing in leading software in solutions for Customer Experience (the sum of all the sensations experienced by a customer in every interaction with a brand up until the purchase), the contact center in cloud and data management.
Through the close collaboration implemented with HPthe Scuderia Ferrari will finally have a partner which will be able to support the team both in the life cycle of the single-seaters and in the decision-making phase, as mentioned with regards to racing strategies. The goal is to achieve effective synergy Oracle-Red Bull which proved decisive during the short but very fruitful collaboration.
Author and graphics: Roberto Cecere – @robertofunoat
Images: Scuderia Ferrari
