Remote control

Called variously ‘virtual garages’, ‘mission control’ or ‘race support rooms’ is the future of race engineering sitting in the warm back at HQ?

-  DIETER RENCKEN

Once Formula 1 took the decision to resume action in July 2020 after a Covid-induced threemonth break, one of the crucial criteria was the number of travelling staff per team permitted paddock access via tightly controlled ‘bubbles’. The decision largely hinged on restrictions imposed by authorities in the region the sport targeted for its return, namely Austria’s Styrian province, home to the Red Bull Ring.

A limit of 80 staff per team was imposed, half the number a well-heeled team would usually take to grands prix, of which around 60 are required to directly operate two cars, with the balance providing engineering, logistics, media, marketing and hospitality services. Although the last three activities were downsized considerably, it soon became clear some of the performance-related functions would need to be executed remotely.

Fortunately, Formula 1 had form in this area, having developed hi-tech data transfer channels over the past two decades. This enabled it to be the first global sport to return to action once restrictions were lifted, initially by way of ‘ghost’ races staged behind locked gates.

Without remote technologies, those first races would have been considerably more complex to stage, let alone so soon.