Last weekend, George Russell took third place at the Spanish Grand Prix. To reach that podium, Russell needed more than just his driving skills. The Mercedes-AMG team has a great deal of credit for this podium, not only for the support and speed but also for the data analysis involved in a race like this, cause, after all, everything is #DrivenByData.

Pure Storage talked about this in a blog post, explaining why data is so important and how they're supporting the Mercedes team in terms of data. Follow the summary below.

Who are Formula 1 engineers, and what do they do?

It's crucial to start with knowing that a Formula 1 team is not just about mechanics. There are a variety of engineers, analysts, IT professionals, mechanics, and electronics experts all working together to collect and analyze data and actions on the track and improve performance for subsequent races.

The collection of this data occurs as follows:

While a race is taking place, engineers and analysts (staff) are always alert to the car, weather, track, and everything happening in real-time. That way, they can know the exact moment the car needs to stop, at which the driver can or should overtake or inform the driver if he is too far ahead or too far behind his opponents.

Data about the car is received by engineers via a sensor system installed in the car. Race and time data is analysed by engineers who can dynamically visualize the speed of other cars.

From these analyses, together, the Driver and the team decide what to do, if something needs to be changed in the car, etc.

How Pure Storage helps with data analysis

As a technical partner of Mercedes-AMG Pure Storage is in every race with them. Pure provides data storage for the team with arrays that travel to each race track for pit-side information.

For companies outside the racing business, Pure can provide the same speed in data storage, collection, and analysis. Get in touch with us to learn more about how you can have a #DrivenByData system with Pure Storage.