Williams F1 drives through changes

Williams Formula 1 team is using a virtual private network (VPN) for telemetry and remote access to boost engineering support for its Grand Prix racing cars.

The Grand Prix calendar presents a formidable challenge to Williams’ chief information officer Chris Taylor.

In the past, the frequent changes of location meant Taylor and his team were forced to rely on the services of local telecoms companies ­ often resorting to giving out T-shirts to ensure the swift set-up of their communications systems.

But the team now uses an AT&T-supplied VPN to guarantee a reliable end-to-end link between the pit lane and the company’s headquarters in Oxfordshire.

At each of the 18 F1 races, IT plays a key role in preparing cars, engineering teams and drivers.

"We turn up on a Tuesday before a Grand Prix weekend and we leave on the following Sunday evening so if you have any problems you need to be proactive, or you could spend a few days resolving issues,” said Taylor. “It is a case of getting there, being prepared and having a stable environment to work in.”

Over the course of six days Williams will send its UK-based analysts between 15GB and 20GB of data across the network.

One application enabled by the better data transfer speed and reliability allows the team to use information collected from rival teams to help devise the racing strategy of drivers Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima.

“Driver overlays are when we rely on in-car footage from other teams and monitor their test laps,” said Taylor. “By combining two videos we can see how our competitors are driving and if there is anything Nico and Kazuki can gain.

“Historically, it would have been more or less impossible to gain that competitive advantage. We only have a couple of hours, and now we are able to send a 100MB file back and forth to the UK within 30 minutes.”

Williams and AT&T are exploring other communications technology with track-side WiFi connections to be rolled out in the next two weeks. They also plan to experiment with Cisco’s telepresence system to improve communications with headquarters.

After eight races Williams is sixth in this year’s F1 constructors’ championship with 15 points.

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