How Does Formula 1 Use Technology?
Formula 1 is the most-watched motorsport in the world, with around 2 billion television viewers over the entire season. It combines skilled drivers with some of the most technologically advanced cars in the world to decide which team and racer will be crowned world champions each year.
It’s not just the cars that use technology either, it is found throughout the sport at just about every level.
Fan Experience
Since the sport was bought by Liberty Media in late 2016, it has been on a quest to improve the experience fans have when watching Formula 1. Many of the steps it has taken to do this involve embracing new technologies.
One of the first movies it made was to harness more of the data generated by car and trackside sensors to provide more insights to fans. These are shown using graphics on TV feeds to help viewers better understand what’s going on on track.
They also made more of this data available to sportsbooks, so fans have more choice when searching for Formula 1 betting odds markets. In addition to the common futures markets and race winners, bettors can also find options for prop bets like who will get the fastest lap and whether there will be a safety car during the race.
Safety
Safety is a key part of Formula 1. While we want to see drivers pushing their cars to the limit, we don’t want them to be injured or worse. The sport has worked hard to make cars safer and uses a lot of technology to do this.
One recent example of this is the bionic glove. This is essentially a set of sensors built into one of the driver’s gloves that measures their vital signs like pulse and blood oxygen saturation. In the event of an accident, the FIA medical team can access this information to get a better understanding of the driver’s condition before they even arrive on the scene.
Sustainability
Formula 1 cars are fast. They generate upwards of 1,000 bhp and drive at over 200 mph, but use only a 1.6-litre engine to do so. To achieve this, huge amounts of cutting-edge technology is packed into the car, including a turbocharger, and two “energy recovery systems” that capture the energy that would otherwise be lost as heat and store it in a battery.
When the driver brakes, the car uses the shed speed from the wheels and then redeploys it when they accelerate again.
This technology has actually made its way into the real world too. Many London buses use a recovery system created by the Williams Racing team to reduce their emissions, while many hybrid road cars work in a similar way.
