Formula 1 today announced that it has renewed its cloud partnership with Amazon Web Services Inc. and disclosed plans to extend the collaboration to more areas.

Formula 1 has been using AWS’ public cloud to support its artificial intelligence initiatives since 2018. In particular, the auto racing league relies on AWS services to power an AI-based data processing platform called F1 Insights. The platform draws on sensor data from Formula 1 vehicles to display statistics such as vehicle speed during live TV broadcasts.

Formula 1 also uses AWS services to support vehicle design efforts, the auto racing league detailed today. Its engineers ran a series of aerodynamic simulations on AWS that helped inform the development of this year’s car designs.

In addition to renewing its existing partnership with AWS, Formula 1 plans to expand its use of the Amazon.com Inc. unit’s public cloud. The expanded partnership will span several areas.

Formula 1 is upgrading its F1 Insights AI platform to display more statistics to viewers during TV broadcasts. The platform will receive a new capability, dubbed Track Dominance, that can highlight sections of a race track where a driver is performing better than peers. Another new feature called Telemetry Comparison is designed to provide information such as how well drivers navigate around corners.

AWS previously detailed that F1 Insights generates statistics using 300 sensors installed in every Formula 1 vehicle. According to the cloud giant, each vehicle’s sensors generate more than 1.1 million data points per second. Formula 1 combines this sensor data with 70 years’ worth of historical motorsport information stored in Amazon S3 to generate the statistics that F1 Insights displays during broadcasts. 

“With such a data-driven sport as F1, this partnership has been a natural fit – helping the sport better utilize, analyze and act upon data to deliver insights to fans that weren’t possible before this collaboration,” said Matt Garman, senior vice president of sales, marketing and global services at AWS. 

The upgraded version of F1 Insights is set to make its debut during the upcoming F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix later this month. Further down the road, Formula 1 will work with AWS to explore how the cloud giant’s services can enhance its technology capabilities in “motorsport, media and data architecture, future track designs and delivery of regionalized media offerings,” as well as other areas. 

Sustainability is another major focus of the expanded partnership. Formula 1 and AWS plan to continue an existing initiative that focuses on making the auto racing league’s operations more sustainable. As part of the collaboration, the companies have been developing methods of reducing freight and personnel travel requirements. 

“AWS has the global reach, partner community, and breadth and depth of cloud services that help Formula 1 engage with fans in multiple markets,” said Brandon Snow, managing director of commercial at Formula 1. “We look forward to the next chapter of this powerful partnership which is central to F1’s fan experience and growth strategy over the coming years.”

Image: AWS