In preparation for the 2022 Extreme E all-electric off-road racing, one F1 team is pulling out all the digital stops.

In December 2019, the Formula 1 franchise saw racing team McLaren adopting AI software robots as part of a multi-year partnership with Automation Anywhere to improve race operations in the pit.

Now, with ambitions to compete in the F1 Extreme E, McLaren has furthered its digitalization with another partnership to exploit data analytics across both race and business operations. According to Zak Brown, Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Racing:  “In racing, we are always looking to refine our learning to help us go quicker, (such as) transforming the way data is collected to provide an easy way to help us make decisions faster by analyzing data at speed through intelligent analytics automation.”

The partnership with Alteryx, Inc. will be represented on the McLaren MCL35M race cars, the race suits of drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, the McLaren pit crew firesuits and across the team’s social media and digital platforms.

What the partnership involves

In an environment where speed and performance are key, McLaren relies heavily on data-driven insights to drive advantages across both races and their operations. From parts manufacturing and logistics to fan engagement, an easy-to-use automation-first approach to digitalization can help the brand clinch success more consistently.

The digital technology involved in the new partnership includes:

  • Digital manufacturing: The average F1 race car comprises over 25,000 separate parts and components. The partnership is expected to improve efficiency in planning, manufacturing optimization, cost efficiencies, production and development of race cars via real-time, analytics automation and modeling.
  • Race Day logistics: Moving heavy freight, equipment and car parts needed for race weekends can be immensely complex and costly. By leveraging Alteryx geospatial analytics and automating business processes, the F1 team mitigates risks by optimizing processes and timeframes to ensure vehicles and right parts get to the right teams at the right time.
  • Fan engagement: When it comes to the complex and technical world of F1, fan engagement is key. Underscoring the need to elevate the human connection with the brand, drivers and the team, McLaren hopes to boost fan engagement through automated behavioral and sentiment analysis throughout the race calendar.
  • Back Office automation: For faster information delivery and analysis at race speed, McLaren is streamlining and digitalizing finance processes at scale. Through a range of analytics automation, the teams will surface actionable insights that maximize their data’s value while reducing operational costs and increasing efficiencies.

Mark Anderson, CEO of Alteryx, commented: “While data fuels performance and business insights, the power of analytic automation accelerates the ability for McLaren to go from data to discoveries to decisions — within minutes,” noting that the partnership can improve the team’s ability to “simplify the complexities and refine terabytes of data (to achieve) the efficiencies needed to perform at top race speeds.”