Mercedes AMG Petronas prepares much of its race-weekend set-up long before its cars arrive at the circuit. At the team’s Brackley base in the UK, engineers and drivers use a driver-in-the-loop simulator to test parts, refine set-ups, and rehearse new tracks ahead of a race weekend.
One tool supporting that workflow is TeamViewer, which the team uses to access and manage the simulator environment from across its facility.
“Technology plays a key role in everything that happens in the garage and here back in the factory. Whether as an engineer, a mechanic, or someone responsible for track logistics, technology is involved in everything,” said Steven Riley, Head of IT Operations and Service Management at the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team.
Ease of access
With every millisecond on the track affecting race outcomes, Mercedes cannot afford to lose access to data, including road and weather conditions, driver performance data, or last-minute fixes required for the cars.
The simulator can operate day or night, particularly when the race team is overseas in a different time zone. Using TeamViewer, key personnel can log in remotely to monitor and make changes to simulator devices, even when they are not on site in Brackley.
“We have a number of performance teams based around the factory here in Brackley, and TeamViewer allows them to take part in those simulator sessions, therefore being more involved with further collaboration and contribution of ideas, which can help improve performance,” Riley said.
Through TeamViewer Tensor, Mercedes manages access to the simulator and can add new users to the system.
The software also provides higher resolution than the system previously used by the team, which would sometimes stutter or freeze. It supports a higher bit rate and allows colour adjustments, which the team said helped reduce these disruptions.
Crash course
One challenge for Mercedes arises when a new track is added to the race calendar. This requires additional preparation to ensure drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli are familiar with the circuit and ready for race conditions.
“We have a digital twin of the car, and that is what runs in the simulator. Together with the hardware we have, it replicates the experience the driver will have when they are in the car at that circuit. That allows us to test new parts and different set-up options before we get to the circuit, so that when the car arrives at the circuit earlier in the race week, perhaps on a Wednesday before a race, it is as close to an optimal set-up as possible,” Riley said.
For Frederik Vesti, Mercedes’ reserve driver, the simulator is an important part of the team’s preparation.
“The simulator is an important tool for the drivers. Sometimes we might not know the track we’re going to. It could be a brand-new track. Having the chance to drive it before we get there is important for the driver’s preparation. The simulator is designed to reflect what happens on the real track, which is why we rely on it when preparing for performance,” he said.
AR assist
As part of its multi-year partnership with TeamViewer, Mercedes is also using the software company’s Frontline technology, which provides augmented reality (AR) instructions by overlaying test assembly information in real space and displaying animated assembly sequences step by step at the team’s test and development lab.
In the lab, one challenge is assembling complex test rigs quickly. Testing car parts that must withstand extreme stress under racing conditions is an important part of car design, both when developing a new car and when introducing upgrades during the F1 season.
The faster the test and development team can run these parts through their testing program, the sooner the parts can reach the track. Previously, these tests were set up with frequent reference to printed drawings. According to Mercedes, this made it difficult to match the physical test rig in front of the team with the diagrams on paper.
“Speed and agility are clearly important to us in F1. That’s the way the whole team operates. We try to find marginal gains that can improve performance on track, and when everyone contributes to that effort, the team moves forward,” Riley said.
Using the TeamViewer system, the team can view additional information overlaid in the physical environment in real time. They can compare the current state with the intended state by superimposing the original CAD model. Highlighting critical parts helps identify inconsistencies and ensure that each part of the testing rig is assembled correctly.
“We can take a tablet and see, in real time and space, a projection of the 3D CAD model. We can look at where components need to be assembled and view them through AR,” said Daniel Markland, Principal Test and Development Technician, Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team.
Driver input
Amid the technology used by the team, Riley emphasised the importance of driver input in team decisions, particularly since they are the ones inside the car at speeds exceeding 200 kilometres per hour.
“The drivers play a key role in the decisions we make, not only around technology investment and implementation, but also in how the operation here in Brackley works. After the car runs each time, whether during a race weekend or in one of our tests, we conduct a full debrief and ask the driver about nearly everything related to the car’s performance,” Riley said.
The feedback, he noted, can range from how the software behaves to brake performance, clothing comfort, tyre performance, and aerodynamic behaviour.
“All of that feedback is then distributed throughout the organisation,” Riley said.
Riley said the team has used TeamViewer’s remote desktop technology earlier in the partnership and now applies it in the simulator and development process.
“Having TeamViewer involved in different stages of our development process is useful for us,” he remarked.
