Making Every Second Count.
The collaboration between Oracle and Red Bull Racing continues to strengthen and achieve success.
Formula 1 is currently experiencing one of its most prominent moments, with a huge box office success of Hollywood movies and the upcoming British Grand Prix promising to be exciting. This sport, known for its speed and technology focus, sees its ten teams investing millions in software and hardware to enhance their performance, as every millisecond can be crucial to the race outcome.
Oracle Red Bull Racing has been a pioneer in the use of advanced technologies, and recent discussions were held with representatives from Oracle to delve deeper into this aspect. According to Jason Rees, Senior Vice President of Cloud Engineering Technology for EMEA at Oracle, "in the world of Formula One, milliseconds matter." The collaboration between Oracle and ORBR has demonstrated that cloud technology and artificial intelligence can make a significant difference in their track performance and also offer a model for digital transformation applicable to other companies.
Since the beginning of their technological partnership in 2020 and its subsequent sponsorship in 2022, Oracle has provided a variety of services that have allowed the team to enjoy one of its most successful periods. The adoption of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) in 2021 has enabled the team to conduct thousands of simulations each season, optimizing their race strategy before each event. Thanks to OCI, ORBR can process and analyze vast amounts of data during races, enabling them to derive insights quickly and make real-time adjustments.
This season, ORBR is utilizing the new OCI Compute A2 and A4 Flex configurations, allowing them to run more simulations weekly and explore a greater number of scenarios to enhance their decisions on race day. These innovations align with the stringent cost regulations in Formula 1, which encompass all team operations, including the tech sector.
Rees also highlights the inclusion of generative artificial intelligence in the team’s infrastructure. Throughout a race weekend, teams must remain constantly alert and adapt to sporting regulations, as a wrong decision can lead to penalties that significantly affect results. ORBR's engineers previously faced the burden of analyzing extensive regulatory documents and past situations, which consumed valuable time. Oracle's new GenAI solution, which utilizes retrieval-augmented generation technology and language models, will enable the team to search and summarize regulations in real time, freeing engineers to focus on racing activities.
Furthermore, ORBR collaborates with Oracle to standardize its technology, ensuring that all track infrastructure, from sensor monitors to garage computers, operates on Oracle Virtualization, Oracle Linux, and Oracle Cloud Native Environment. Rees emphasizes that standardizing technology across different environments can help reduce inefficiencies and costs, allowing engineers and strategists to work cohesively regardless of location.
The landscape of Formula 1 will change in 2026 with the implementation of new regulations, marking the first time ORBR will supply its own engines after ending its partnership with Honda. The internal Red Bull Ford Powertrains unit will use OCI to develop a next-generation hybrid engine. The engineering team of Red Bull Ford Powertrain is leveraging the latest cloud technologies to address the challenge of building a new engine development business.
The ability to process large volumes of data in real-time and make faster decisions is not only vital for F1 teams; it represents a strategic advantage that any business can capitalize on.
