Microsoft Corporation together with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula 1 Team has declared an innovational multi-year alliance that will implant Microsoft advanced technologies into the heart of operations of the racing team. The partnership is meant to improve performance, encourage innovation and make the performance of all the areas of work in the team, including the design and engineering as well as trackside strategy. This project is an effort as Formula 1 is entering a revolution with the wholesale regulation changes in 2026, with a focus on electrification, sustainability, and technological progression.
The new Formula 1 regulations represent one of the most considerable technical changes in the recent history, forcing the teams to adjust as quickly as possible, and to maximize the performance. In the case of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, it is a one-of-a-kind chance to capitalize on cloud computing, enterprise artificial intelligence, and sophisticated data analytics in all their processes through the help of Microsoft. The vision of the alliance is developing a smooth bridge between the innovation in the factory and the execution of tracks on the tracks as an execution of insights and decision making becomes smarter, faster, and more accurate.
Toto Wolff, the CEO and Team Principal of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, was excited about the partnership, indicating it is people who change the world who drive the sport. We are happy to collaborate with one of the leading technologies in the world, Microsoft, whose name is associated with revolutionary innovation. We are also determined to remain on the forefront of performance and progress and this partnership indicates this. The key to it is to prioritize the technology of Microsoft in the core of our operation as a group and, thus, develop more rapid insights, smarter teamwork, and novel methods of work as we proceed towards the next generation in F1.
Formula 1 is a race in which victors are determined by milliseconds and excise data analysis. All choices including the timing of the pitstop, tire management are supported by analytics that makes the sport a strict testing ground of the enterprise technology. The collaboration between Microsoft and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team is based on applying real-time information and AI-enhanced insights that will maximize operations at all levels and help the team to have a competitive advantage. Judson Althoff, head of the commercial business in Microsoft, noted this dynamic and said, “In this partnership, Microsoft cloud and enterprise AI technologies are at the center of racing performance where milliseconds count and data wins. These, along with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, are the things that we are leveraging data and converting it into real-time intelligence that enables quicker decision-making, smarter strategies and long-term competitive advantages, on and off the track.
The current Formula 1 cars produce massive amounts of data on each circuit. The cars of Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 have more than 400 sensors per car, generating more than 1.1 million data points per second. These data streams are used to monitor tire wear, aerodynamic efficiency, usage of energy recovery system, and changing track conditions. This data should be interpreted instantly, which is a compulsory condition of the best result of a race. The high-performance computing capabilities of Microsoft Azure and artificial intelligence will benefit the team with the capabilities to simulate, analyze performance, plan strategy, and collaborate with other teams faster and more accurately than ever before.
Chief Commercial Officer of Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, Richard Sanders, stressed the potential to change the business with the help of the collaboration, stating it is an honor to have Microsoft join the partner ecosystem of Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team. The technology available at Microsoft already is already at the core of our operations as a business and this partnership presents additional avenues to be creative as we head to the next generation of technological advancement. I will be excited to see how our teams will work to open up new ways of operation within the organization.
The partnership goes beyond the hardware and software infrastructure and integrates digital tools with human workflows of the team. Microsoft 365 and GitHub have already become an inherent part of engineering and operational work in Brackley and Brixworth headquarters and trackside during the racing events. The collaboration will enhance the application of these tools and make them more agile, faster in innovating, and collaborative. Specifically, GitHub allows engineers to streamline design, modeling, and simulation activities, so that the software development is in line with the fast changing demands of competitive motorsport. This combination enables the team to iterate more rapidly, have a greater degree of accuracy, and turn data-based insights into implementable plans.
The objectives of the partnership are AI experimentation and cloud scalability. Through Microsoft Azure, the team would be able to deploy smart virtual sensors, model the performance conditions, and scale computing resources at will. Azure Kubernetes Service lets the engineers flexibly change the computing capacity, adding capacity when demand is high and reducing it when demanded is lower. This strategy will help to maintain a relatively smooth technological innovation and meet strict financial and regulatory demands.
The partnership is also based on the decades of common history between Microsoft and Mercedes-Benz, which stands along the automotive value chain. Since smart factories built on AI, the companies have been long investigating the opportunities of digital transformation in mobility, such as cloud-powered engineering systems and vehicle telemetry. This collaboration puts all of those things squarely into Formula 1 to show how factory innovations can be transformed into real-time competitive advantage in the track.
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team has a history of performance and innovation. Since its establishment to race at the pinnacle of motorsport, the team represents the legacy of innovation of Mercedes-Benz, which has been defining the technology of automobiles over 100 years. The headquarters are located in Brackley and Brixworth and feature over 2,000 people who are passionate about winning the World Championship. During the period 2014 -2021 the team recorded eight consecutive Constructors Championships which exemplifies a culture of never ending excellence. The alliance with Microsoft is the next stage in this path that combines technical creativity and human desire to keep the team on the top of the Formula 1.
