Are digital pitstops better for F1 driver-safety?

Not all backseat drivers are annoying. At least, not when they are guiding F1 drivers on every inch, push, blink and corner through the eyes and ears of data, simulation and correlation.

Specially when it comes to driver safety. Specially when it’s done by putting both the driver and the car under stress- albeit a harmless one.

“Simulation is one of the elements to keep drivers safe. This helps by making them know the tracks well and extract as much performance as possible. We simulate a lot of scenarios in testing and development as well as on tracks. We put all the components in a car under stress relative to the track conditions. We perform precision testing which helps to elevate safety a lot.” Answering a question from Cybermedia, Steven Riley, Head of IT Operations and Service Management at Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team explained how various tests and stress-simulations take the drivers and cars closer to the real conditions- including areas like how would suspension, chassis and other parts behave. This is where solutions like TeamViewer are steered together with Augmented Reality. The team can make the most of technology- be it CAD or the ability to look at various components in race-like conditions.

Notably, accidents are still a serious issue to reckon with in F1 circuits. Recently, the Australian Grand Prix saw Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan and Carlos Sainz crashing out before the end of lap one – as per media reports. The most recent Formula One driver to die due to an accident was Marussia driver Jules Bianchi. When it comes to safety, the curve is getting better- industry watchers talk about how the most deaths in a decade were 15 in the 1950s. Still, in all these years as many as 50 Formula One drivers have suffered fatal accidents in the sport. The count is sad, even though it’s getting controlled with advancements – observe how Formula One has seen 32 driver fatalities during Grand Prix weekends, 7 during test sessions, and 13 in non-championship events. The safety turn is dangerous- specially for new drivers not fluent with real-racing situations.

Safety and Greenhorns

Simulation comes in handy for new drivers as well, Riley annotated. “It is absolutely critical during a racing weekend. We can run simulation with the driver in it before the racing event and help them prepare for driving on the track. The digital twin of the car allows to create a good replica for driver experience while also giving room to test a lot of new parts and come close to an optimal set-up. We can run various scenarios, collect as much data on tracks, weather, on-ground changes with simulation.”

This year, the simulator work is especially important for rookie driver Antonelli as he familiarizes himself with new tracks.

As shared with the media - The team’s reserve and simulator drivers are often busy in the simulator, especially during race weekends. Simulator drivers and the simulator team work closely with the engineers to test solutions for real-time issues. When effective, they can be applied to the race cars on the next session. This becomes very useful as the race team is frequently overseas and in different time zones. It helps a lot if the solution can allow to make changes to the simulator devices remotely, even when they're not on site in Brackley, England.

The Digital Practice Lap

Riley was sharing how TeamViewer has been used for driving improvements for The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula 1 Team in managing the driver-in-loop simulator.

He was interacting with the press while explaining the recent headway made with simulation through TeamViewer. He gave a sense of how various technology aspects are now becoming real side-seat navigators for F1 racers and their teams. Like how communication between the drivers and tech team becomes an edge with sensors, competitive analytics becomes sharper with real-time data, plans and progress amp up with race engineers, and crucial strategy decisions can be taken in split-second time constraints. It can be all the difference one needs to qualify for the pole, he added.

As shared, the driver-in-loop simulator replicates the behavior of a real car, but in a controlled digital environment where every circuit can be driven on and every possible car configuration can be explored. Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team drivers, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, use this simulator to test drive different car setups and discover the best possible options to configure it for the race weekend, as stated by the company.

In a press explanation, Christian Damm, Simulator Development Engineer for the Team, added that, “Not only are the simulators a sensitive area, they're also very secretive. We need to be able to trust that the data security is in place. The work in the simulator has an impact on the track so being able to push boundaries and enhance performance is a win for my team."

What’s interesting here is the use of dynamic remoting that allows multiple users to connect to one machine to troubleshoot a problem together. This helps to replicate stuff remotely as well.

Riley also touched upon how technology is useful with the high-pressure race-season logistics that teams go through. He also talked about the advantage of having a data centre sitting next to the Brackley facility for easy back-up, storage and data availability. “Technology helps to bring everyone together- be it the driver, the mechanic on the track or the engineer designing the car. It keeps them connected and productive, wherever they are, no matter how far apart they are physically.”