The following is a guest post by Colin Burrell, Williams Client Executive at Avanade

One of the exciting aspects of working with Williams Martini Racing is that we can literally see the results of our work circling around the track. At the same time, we can tap into data analytics in real-time to understand where we can help the team improve.

This is critical because the regularity of races over the season mean that the team has to be able to adapt quickly between competitions. If something isn’t quite right, we need to have processes in place that can address it before the cars line up again just weeks later.

For instance, we have developed a tyre-optimisation application with Williams that enables the team’s race engineers to make decisions based on data rather than instinct. The app receives data from the Williams trackside WISDOM server, which collects real-time information from the hundreds of sensors on the FW37 race cars for both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. In combination with weather information and GPS data, this information allows the engineers to better understand the performance of the tyre to enable them to make the best strategic decisions during a competitive race.

The tyre-optimisation app doesn’t just benefit the team during an actual race. It’s vital that the data is also easily shareable with the right people at Williams, using it to improve in time for the next circuit. This is where digital collaboration is key. For example, the sooner the right team at the headquarters in Oxfordshire can get access to the data from the Melbourne track in Australia, the sooner it can start preparing for the next race. To enable this, we developed a platform that allowed us to share data as soon as it’s generated so that the team had a head start in working on alterations.

We’re helping Williams F1 move forward in the digital space to transform the way they work. While the Williams F1 team has always been one of the most innovative in Formula 1, we’re continuing to help them push the boundaries on and off the track!