Home F1 F1 team bosses opine on increase of AI technology in the sport

F1, AI — BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - JULY 23: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB19 leads Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W14 and the rest of the field into turn one at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on July 23, 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202307230392 // Usage for editorial use only //

F1 team bosses opine on increase of AI technology in the sport

13/08/2023

F1 team bosses share their views on what roles Artificial Intelligence can stop for team members in the sport.

With the push on the Artificial Intelligence side, there are variety of jobs which has come under fire in various fields. So far F1 has been largely kept intact but it can’t be for long since AI is fast catching up and the replacements are happening.

The technology is advanced and there could be things that could be utilised by F1 teams with the AI. Although they are not sure to what extent they can use or rely on those and if they can replace humans who are a crucial element in this sport.

Here’s some of the F1 team bosses with their views –

Otmar Szafnauer (now ex-Alpine): “So, which roles will AI replace in Formula 1? I should probably start with roles that it won’t replace. So, our catering team, our chefs, won’t be replaced by AI. Our drivers won’t be replaced. My perspective, and, because I’m old, I’ve lived through robotics coming into industry and the auto industry especially, when I was there, and robots took over a lot of jobs that humans used to do. And everybody was worried. And there shouldn’t have been a worry, it just redistributed the work and that created more jobs for engineers or technicians that would look after the robots. And I think AI will be similar. We will get to a place where it will naturally take over some functions. However, us humans will then adapt and do other things. So don’t worry, I think in the future, even with AI, you’ll still be in the room asking questions.”

Andrea Stella: “That was actually going to be my point, we’ll see if AI will replace Team Principals. It’s a tool, that’s how I see it. There’s always been tools, Otmar recalled the robotics, for instance in Formula 1 computational fluid dynamics, it took time, but now it is the dominant way of designing Formula 1 cars. And I think for AI it will be similar. What I can see is that teams will deploy this kind of tool in various areas, and then we will see the areas where it will be more fruitful. It is very early days, in reality. But it’s something that you cannot ignore, as a Formula 1 team, because it may come with large opportunities. So, it’s a tool that can come with opportunities and it deserves investments, but there’s no concern.”

Franz Tost: “You know, as Formula 1 is the peak of motor sports, also on the technical side AI will play an important role in the future. And it’s already involved in different tools on the technical side and will be enlarged in the future. Therefore, I only see positives on this, because it will enable us to sort out different topics much faster, and will bring us to another level.”

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