 Nico Rosberg, AT&T Williams team driver |
Rosberg, 22, grew up with a strong passion for motor racing, particularly since his father Keke Rosberg, was the 1982 F1 World Champion.
In an interview with ZDNet Asia, the younger Rosberg discussed the use of IT at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, Malaysia.
Q: As a F1 driver, what data do you look at when you're in the car?
Rosberg: It's amazingly complicated, especially during the testing process. There are over 120 sensors on the car, for example, and when you're out on the track these capture and transmit back all the information that we'll look at. The harness cabling in the car stretches over 2 miles, which gives you some idea of the degree of connectivity and dependency on onboard electronic systems.
Everything is stored in the car's memory and then downloaded for us to analyze. There are different engineers for all kinds of areas in the car and the amount of data you can analyze is vast: electronics, differential, gearbox, engine, and so on.
Whilst I am driving, the data gets sent to the garage straight away so if I over-steered on a corner, my engineer will see it in real time, as I feel it. It's that quick.
Does all this data and technology help, or is it frustrating that there's so much of it?
It helps. It doesn't affect the driving but it is essential in seeing the bigger picture. Also, I am sending information back from the car but no adjustments are made via computer. Once I send the information back, they look at it and can tell me to make some changes, but those changes are made by me manually on the steering wheel.
When you drive, do you need to be kept abreast of all this technology or do you just drive and not think about it?
No, it really matters to me because that's where you can really make a difference. Everyone who drives in F1 is a great driver--that's why they have a seat in the race. So, to beat them, you need something more.
By using data and technology, by making the effort to understand it and to analyze it, that's where you can really make the difference to your performance and gain an edge over others.
Is all the technology and data confusing or distracting while you're in the car?
When you're in the car, you're thinking about the driving of course. There is so much precision needed, but you also need to constantly think about what the car is doing on the track and how you can improve it.
It's very complex for the mind. You have to get used to it but once you do, it comes naturally. It makes a difference to how I drive on the roads now, though. My reactions are so much faster and my mind goes so much quicker than people around me now.
Lee Min Keong is a freelance IT writer based in Malaysia.
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