We learned on May 30 that the Canadian F1 Grand Prix has a title sponsor, AWS.
It is the first title sponsor for the event in 19 years. It’s a one -year contract, the Montreal organization says.
AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a division of American e-commerce group Amazon, which specializes in on-demand cloud technology services for businesses and individuals.
By 2020, it generated $ 45 billion, or 11.5% of Amazon’s revenue.
There are several types of cloud computing. In F1, high-performance computing (HPC) helped redesign the 2022 single-seater, machine learning (AA) produces advanced statistics to improve the offer for beginners and the interconnection of things through of the Internet (IoT) connects sensors in the field and on the track to provide real-time data.
In 2018, F1 chose AWS as its official cloud and machine learning service provider. The teams also have their own suppliers, such as Red Bull with Oracle, Mercedes-Benz with HPE, Aston Martin with Cognizant or Alfa Romeo with Zadara.
Rob Smedley of Britain, a former Ferrari race engineer from 2006-2013 and Williams ’performance chief from 2013-2016, is already an F1 data consultant for AWS.
He started F1 with the Jordan team in 2001 getting data before becoming a race engineer.
The 48-year-old engineer, who trained at Loughborough University in the Leicestershire region, agreed to talk to Radio-Canada Sports about his work as a consultant for AWS.
When I left the Williams team I wanted a new challenge, because I had traveled with F1 teams for 25 years. I started quite young and I wanted to use my knowledge and ability to give something to F1.
Ross Brawn, who I worked with at Ferrari, who is now technical and sporting director of F1, then asked me if I could help him with data collection to offer more to beginners, and this is how to enter the AWS in F1.
On the one hand, you have people with incredible technical knowledge of F1 and on the other hand this very deep technological area that works so well, and when you combine all this knowledge, the possibilities are enormous.said the British engineer.
Collaborations are forming, he added. Today, AWS has become the title sponsor of the Canadian Grand Prix, and it shows that AWS is investing more and more in F1 and is increasingly integrating itself into the way things are done in F1.
From a physical environment, to team factories, F1 has moved to a virtual storage environment.
Previously, companies had their own servers that were physically in the factory. But to grow and meet their needs, they now use cloud computing, which offers the possibility to interconnect multiple virtual servers, if you will. It’s like a virtual warehouse to store more information. This is the cloudhe explains.
For the sport, this is rare, because all of these hyper-specialized people who make up the DNA of F1 now have access to a virtual way of processing data, he specified. This allows F1 to move forward through efficient and innovative projects.
F1 engineers are collecting more and more data from cars. Today, an F1 car contains approximately 300 sensors that transmit more than a million telemetry data per second.
F1 has long ceased to be a motor sport.
F1 has always stood out from a technological standpoint, for decades. And the sport is now using digital technologies with complex computer systems, to push F1 even further, to deliver a richer spectacle.said Rob Smedley.
AWS, for example, allows F1 to deliver more and more real-time information, numbers and statistics during races to fans ’screens. Sometimes there is a danger of cluttering the image or interfering with the show. It’s a matter of dosage. But F1 is not yet much accessible to the general public, and the public is asking for more.
Could I want to go back to the circuits? Maybe one day. I don’t close the doorhe said with a straightforward smile.
Projects set up by AWS in F1 are usually done remotely, away from circuits. But there are highly specialized engineers on each team to analyze all the parts of the car, their reactions and their effects on its performance. Thinking heads are not all on site, some work in the factory in real time.
For now, says the British engineer, with great skepticism, I’m happy to do what I’m doing. I’m not sure I want to go to 23 races (an entire F1 season). Between 10 and 15 races is the right number for me. But I miss it, really. There’s no stronger feeling than being on the circuit on Sunday when the cars start, and you have to do everything to make the car work as efficiently as possible. This is the dream job.
Rob Smedley also ended the interview by saying we will definitely see him again one day on the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit.
Source: Radio-Canada
