Formula 1 is considered the most popular annual sporting series globally, as measured by Nielsen Sports. Over 750 million fans attend and tune into Grand Prix events around the world, including the race in my hometown of Austin, Texas. Last year, I had the opportunity to attend some of the F1 pre-racing activities at the Circuit of the Americas and spend time with the McLaren F1 Team — winners of the 2024 Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship.
What I find fascinating about F1 is the underlying technology that supports building the fastest road-racing cars, and how network connectivity and security play a crucial role in supporting the 20 to 25 races that occur every season. In this piece, I will share my perspective from under the hood after spending time with Dan Keyworth, McLaren Racing’s director of business technology, highlighting how the team is partnering with Cisco to fuel its success on the track.
Logistical and Technical Challenges
F1 presents a set of unique logistical and technical challenges for the ten teams that travel around the world over the course of nine to ten months in a typical racing season. The sheer logistics are mindboggling and involve moving cars, spare parts, and IT infrastructure equipment across five continents by sea, air, and road. By all measures, the effort is nothing short of miraculous, given the speed and pinpoint accuracy required to pack up and break down equipment between races.
The technical challenges that the McLaren F1 Team faces are equally daunting. An average race generates over 1.5 terabytes of data, including 250 million data points transferred in real time from IoT sensors on the car to the pit, as well as to the team’s technology and production centers in Woking, England, just outside of London. This means that the requirements for connectivity are immense. Data throughput must be lightning fast for split-second analysis of a car’s performance and needed adjustments, and ultra-low latency is also critical to ensure the integrity of the signals generated. To handle these exacting demands, the McLaren F1 Team uses Cisco Catalyst switches both in its datacenter and at race sites, as well as Cisco Wi-Fi 6E access points in the pit to efficiently monitor over 300 telemetry sensors on each car.
Security also factors heavily into race-day operations. One of my favorite scenes from the movie Ford v Ferrari is when the Ferrari team’s stopwatch is stolen from their pit, throwing the crew into a state of panic and confusion. It’s a clear illustration of the importance of securing infrastructure on the track, and McLaren Racing leverages Cisco’s depth in cybersecurity to the same end. Cisco provides the requisite security infrastructure, including firewalls, endpoint protection, and its Software-Defined Access platform to strengthen security posture, safeguard telemetry data, and defend against threats by bad actors.
The Value of Video Collaboration and Observability
The McLaren F1 Team is also leveraging the power of collaboration and observability to win F1 races. First, Cisco devices and its WebEx Suite allow team members to collaborate and communicate more effectively. One example of the power of video collaboration arises from the need for F1 teams to construct bespoke parts for their cars based on the telemetry data generated at races. Effective collaboration technology that connects the personnel at the race to the team design center back at HQ is essential for facilitating the creation of these custom parts on the fly.
Observability also factors into McLaren’s technology stack. The team deploys Cisco ThousandEyes within its mobile datacenter to proactively resolve network issues that might impact race-day operations. I have written about this solution and its capabilities in the past. For the McLaren F1 Team, it provides granular visibility into data traffic flows, enables deep insights into latency, loss, and jitter, and enables continually fine-tuning connectivity to ensure the highest levels of performance.
Driving Faster Outcomes
The McLaren F1 Team is utilizing fast connectivity, deep security, video collaboration tools, and observability to drive faster outcomes on and off the circuit. Cisco refers to the notion that “fast cars need a fast network” — and I wholeheartedly agree. Success in F1 is measured by race wins, and the McLaren F1 Team’s momentum in ending last season with the Constructors’ Championship is an indication that cutting-edge technology is providing it with a competitive advantage.
