To bring Formula 1 fans closer to the event, AWS is utilizing AI.

With its unprecedented ability to provide precise forecasts and comprehensive distances, AWS is completely changing the spectator experience for Formula One.
Numbers rule Formula 1 (F1): top speeds, quickest laps, tyre temperatures, championship points Data is intrinsic to Formula One racing, with each of the race car’s more than 300 sensors producing over 1.1 million data points per second. There are countless variables that organisers and teams must take into account and adjust for in order to achieve commercial and competitive success. A mere tenth of a second off course can mean the difference between success and failure.
In order to promote cloud transformation and innovation within the sport, Formula One (F1) and Amazon started a long-term cooperation in 2018 after considering the shifting media landscape and the goal of optimizing fan experiences.
The “working backwards” approach, which is synonymous with Amazon, allowed the AWS teams to begin with the goal that the sport’s fans had in mind: getting even closer to the race.

Every race features 20 vehicles on the starting grid, so it can be difficult for spectators to keep up with the action. Additionally, timing screens and extensive post-race analysis are necessary to identify which drivers are outperforming. By combining Amazon SageMaker with AWS machine learning (ML) technology, AWS and F1 were able to find a workable solution.
Bringing spectators even closer to the action with F1 Insights
AWS-powered F1 Insights is one of the most significant changes to the F1 fan experience in recent memory. Through the use of different data points from the hundreds of sensors on each car, a trained machine learning model is provided to F1 so that spectators may comprehend how drivers make split-second decisions and how teams create and execute racing plans in real time that affect the result of a race.
Battle Forecast is among the most fascinating revelations. Battle Forecast calculates and shows in real time how many laps a pursuing car will need to complete to get within “striking distance” of the vehicle it is attempting to overtake and pass based on track history and estimated driver pace. With features like near to the Wall, which gives viewers and broadcasters a terrifying glimpse of just how near an F1 car gets to the wall at some of the championship’s most thrilling turns, each insight aims to entice viewers to become even more immersed in the action.

Fans can also gain strategic insight by using past data to educate Amazon SageMaker’s machine learning algorithms. By combining projected tyre and race strategies, Predicted Pit stop strategy determines the racing strategy for the first lap based on historical data. Fans, even those who are not aware with Formula One race strategy, are left with a sense of anticipation when they observe when a driver should strategically make his next pit stop, thanks to this information.
Fans are still able to get a unique perspective on drivers and race strategy with the two most recent insights from AWS. Based on the energy spent on the previous lap, the Hybrid Energy System determines how drivers use their electrical energy to get the most out of their vehicles. All of this is accomplished by employing the computing power of the Amazon Cloud to solve energy balance equations, assisting viewers in comprehending critical strategic choices and exciting on-track conflicts.
With its debut at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Alternative Strategy offers viewers a glimpse into how races may have transpired if drivers and their teams had chosen a different course of action. The outcome of a simulation that uses time, race pace, tyre degradation, weather, track conditions, and other data elements will be visible to broadcasters and fans. and responds to the query, “What if…?”
Amazon and Formula One: An emerging partnership
The number of staff at F1 has more than doubled, and the company has greatly increased its digital footprint since first partnering with AWS. This new configuration not only gives F1 access to more affordable, scalable processing capacity, but it also makes it easier for the team to take advantage of an increasing range of managed AWS services to improve internal operations and the fan experience.
According to Neil Ralph, principal sports partnership manager at AWS, “F1 can now deliver more data-driven insights that help to educate and entertain fans—from timing and telemetry data captured by hundreds of sensors on each F1 car, relayed real time to AWS compared to historical data stored on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3).” “This includes thorough performance analysis and forecasts that power the broadcast graphics for F1 Insights.”
It was unexpected how quickly our AWS deployments moved from experimental to pivotal. According to Chris Roberts, the director of IT for Formula One, “AWS has quickly become ingrained in our race DNA. We installed AWS Direct Connect for dedicated, faster throughput and redundancy to our data centres.” “We can swiftly launch new features that will benefit fans. It’s an amazing capacity that demonstrates how quickly we can develop concepts into finished goods and incorporate them into the F1 environment.
The internal F1 team is looking for places to offload low-value tasks now that it has a strong AWS foundation, which will allow developers to focus on more innovative initiatives. F1 has utilized 96 distinct AWS services and solutions thus far, and that number is probably only going to rise.