You only need to watch a Formula One™ car when it comes into the pits and is surrounded by laptops, to see how reliant modern racing is on technology. As crucial as the driver’s skill is the IT infrastructure behind an F1 team.
When the newly formed Team Lotus asked us to help them build a trackside environment, and an HPC solution for their headquarters, it was a great chance for us to start from the ground up and create something really tailored to the needs of modern racing.
Working with a single provider for hardware and software helped Team Lotus to build the car faster, and meet the tight deadline for the new Formula One season. Dell’s experience of working with other racing teams was crucial and helped Team Lotus to design and build the car in less than six months, around 60 per cent faster than most other teams.
Space is a massive consideration as each week during the season, the team has to pack its entire environment up and move it to another country – often on the other side of the world. So it helps that through blade server technology, energy efficient laptops, and intelligent networking, Team Lotus’s IT footprint is half that of most competitors. This means they save space when travelling long haul – space that can be used for car parts and other necessities.
Bill Peters, Head of IT at Team Lotus told us: “On race day, we’re entirely reliant on our trackside IT environment. Quite simply, if it fails, we can’t race. We’ve got a fantastic environment in place now, and it’s helping us climb up the grid.”
Of course the real success will be measured on the track, but with a world championship in their sights and the right infrastructure behind them, Team Lotus is definitely speeding up.
Read more about Team Lotus story