A discussion on how data-driven technology and innovation are making electric racing cars an example for all endeavors where limits are tested and bested.

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How Data-Driven Machine Learning
Helps Venturi Formula E Team Refine
A Winning Performance and Strategy
A discussion on how data-driven technology and innovation are making electric racing cars an
example for all endeavors where limits are tested and bested.
Listen to the podcast. Find it on iTunes. Download the transcript. Sponsor: Hewlett
Packard Enterprise.
Dana Gardner: Hello, and welcome to the next edition of the BriefingsDirect Voice of
the Customer podcast series. I’m Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor
Solutions, your host and moderator for this ongoing discussion on digital transformation
success stories.
Our next advanced automobile racing technology innovation discussion explores the
Formula E racing sport. We will now learn how data-driven technology and innovation
are making high-performance electric cars an example for all endeavors where limits are
tested and bested.
To learn more about the latest in data-driven Formula E
growth and refinement, please join me in welcoming,
Susie Wolff, Team Principal at Venturi Formula E Team
in Monaco.
Welcome to the show, Susie.
Susie Wolff: Thank you for having me.
Gardner: Aside from providing a great viewing and fan
experience, what are the primary motivators for Formula
E racing? Why did it start at all?
Race down to Electric Avenue
Wolff: It’s a really interesting story, because Formula E is like a startup. We are only in
our fifth season, and Formula E and the management of Formula E disrupted the world
of motorsport because it brought to the table a new concept of growing racing.
We race in city centers. That means that the tracks are built up just for one-day events,
right in the heart of some of the most iconic capitals throughout the world. Because it’s
built up within a city center and it’s usually only a one-day event, you get very limited
Wolff

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track time, which is quite unusual in motorsport. In the morning we get up, we test, we
go straight into qualifying, and then we race.
Yet, it’s attracting a new audience because people don’t need to travel to a race circuit.
They don’t need to buy an expensive ticket. The race comes to the people, as opposed
to the people going out to see racing.
Obviously, the technology is something completely new for people. There is very little
noise, mostly you hear the whooshing of the cars going past. It’s a showcase for new
technologies, which we are all going to see appearing on the road in the next three to
five years.
The automotive industry is going
through a massive change with
electric mobility and motorsport is
following suit with Formula E.
We already see some of the applications on the roads, and I think that will increase year
on year. What motorsport is so good at is testing and showcasing the very latest
technology.
Gardner: I was going to ask you about the noise because I had the privilege and joy of
watching a Formula One event in Monaco years ago, and the noise was a big part of it.
Aside from these cars being so quiet, what is also different in terms of an electric
Formula E race compared to traditional Formula One?
Wolff: The noise is the biggest factor, and that takes a bit of getting used to. It’s the
roaring of the engines that creates emotion and passion. Obviously, in the Formula E
cars you are missing any kind of noise.
Even the cars we are starting to drive on the roads now have a little electric start and
every time I switch it on I think, “Oh, the car is not working, I have a problem.” I forget
that there is no noise when you switch an electric car on.
Also, in Formula E, the way that technology is developing and how quickly it’s
developing is very clear through the racing. Last season, the drivers had two cars and
they had to switch cars in the middle of the race because the battery wouldn’t last long
enough for a complete race distance. Now, because the battery technology has
advanced so quickly, we are doing one race with one car and one battery. So I think
that’s really the beauty of what Formula E is. It’s showcasing this new technology and
electric mobility. Add to this the incredible racing and the excitement that brings, and you
have a really enticing offering.
Gardner: Please tell us about Venturi, as a startup, and how you became Team
Principal. You have been involved with racing for quite some time.
The automotive industry is going through a
massive change with electric mobility and
motorsport is following suit with Formula E.

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A new way to manage a driving career
Wolff: Yes, my background is predominately in racing. I started racing cars when I was
only eight years old, and I made it through the ranks as a racing driver, all the way to
becoming a test driver in Formula One.
Then I stepped away and decided to do something completely different and started a
second career. I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be in motorsport, because my husband, Toto
Wolff, works in motorsport. I didn’t want to work for him and didn’t want to work against
him, so I was very much looking for a different challenge and then Venturi came along.
The President of Venturi, a great gentleman, Gildo Pastor, is a pioneer in electric
mobility. He was one of the first to see the possibility of using batteries in cars, and he
set a number of land speed records -- all electric. He joined Formula E from the very
beginning, realizing the potential it had.
The team is based in Monaco, which is a very small principality, but one with a very rich
history in racing because of the Grand Prix. Gildo had approached me previously when I
was still racing to drive for his team in Formula E. I was one of the cynics, not sure
Formula E was going to be for the long-term. So I said, “Thank you, but no thank you.”
But then he contacted me last year and said, “Look, I think we should work together. I
think you will be fantastic running the team.” We very quickly found a great way to work
together, and for me, it was just the perfect challenge. It’s a new form of racing, it’s
breaking new ground and it’s at such an exciting stage of development. So, it was the
perfect step for me into the business and management side of motorsports.
Gardner: For me, the noise difference is not much of an issue because the geek factor
gets me jazzed about automobiles, and I don’t think I am alone in that. I love the
technology. I love the idea of the tiny refinements that improve things and that interaction
between the best of what people can do and what machines can do.
Tell us about your geek factor. What is new and fascinating for you about Formula E
cars? What’s different from the refinement process that goes on with traditional
motorsport and the new electric version?
The software challenge
Wolff: It’s a massively different challenge than what we are used to within traditional
forms of motorsport.
The new concept behind Formula E has functioned really well. Just this season, for
example, we had eight races with eight different winners. In other categories, for

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example in Formula One, you just don’t get that. There is only the possibility for three
teams to win a race, whereas in Formula E, the competition is very different.
Also, as a team, we don’t build the cars from scratch. A Formula One team would be
responsible for the design and build of their whole car. In Formula E, 80 percent of the
car is standardized. So every team receives the same car up to that 80 percent. The last
part is the power train, the rear suspension, and some of the rear-end design of the car.
The big challenge within Formula E
then, is in the software. It’s ultimately a
software race: Who can develop,
upgrade, and react quickly enough on
the software side. And obviously, as
soon as you deal with software, you are
dealing with a lot of data.
That’s one of the biggest challenges in Formula E -- it’s predominantly a software race
as opposed to a hardware race. If it’s hardware, it’s set at the beginning of the season,
it’s homologated, and it can’t be changed.
In Formula E, the performance differentiators are the software and how quickly you can
analyze, use, and redevelop your data to enable you to find the weak points and correct
them quickly enough to bring to the on-track performance.
Gardner: It’s fascinating to me that this could be the ultimate software development
challenge, because the 80/20 rule applies to a lot of other software development, too.
The first 80 percent can be fairly straightforward and modular; it’s the last 20 percent that
can make or break an endeavor.
Tell us about the real-time aspects. Are you refining the software during the race day?
How does that possibly happen?
Winning: When preparation meets data
Wolff: Well, the preparation work is a big part of a race performance. We have a
simulator based back at our factory in Monaco. That’s where the bulk of the preparation
work is done. Because we are dealing with only a one-day event, it means we have to
get everything crammed into an eight-hour window, which leaves us very little time
between stations to analyze and use the data.
The bulk of the preparation work is done in the simulator back at the factory. Each driver
does between four to six days in a simulator preparing for a race. That’s where we do all
of the coding and try to find the most efficient ways to get from the start to the finish of
the race. That’s where we do the bulk of the analytical work.
It’s ultimately a software race: Who
can develop, upgrade, and react
quickly enough on the software side.

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When we arrive at the actual race, we are just doing the very fine tweaks because the
race day is so compact. It means that you need to be really efficient. You need to
minimize the errors and maximize the opportunities, and that’s something that is hugely
challenging.
If you had a team of 200 engineers, it would be doable. But in Formula E, the regulations
limit you to 20 people on your technical team on a race day. So that means that
efficiency is of the utmost importance to get the best performance.
Gardner: I’m sure in the simulation and modeling phase you leverage high-performance
computing (HPC) and other data technologies. But I’m particularly curious about that
real-time aspect, with a limit of 20 people and the ability to still make some tweaks. How
did you solve the data issues in a real-time, intensive, human-factor-limited environment
like that?
Wolff: First of all, it’s about getting the right people on-board and being able to work with
the right people to make sure that we have the knowhow on the team. The data is real-
time, so in a race situation we are aware if there is a problem starting to arise in the car.
It’s very much up to the driver to control that themselves, from within the car, because
they have a lot of the controls. The very important data numbers are on their steering
wheel.
They have the ability to change settings within the car -- and that’s also what makes it
massively challenging for the driver. This is not just about how fast you can go, it’s also
how much extra capacity you have to manage in your car and your battery -- to make
sure that you are being efficient.
The data is utmost in importance for how it’s
created and then how quickly it can be
analyzed and used to help performance. That’s
something that Hewlett Packard Enterprise
(HPE) has been a huge benefit to us for. First of
all, HPE has been able to increase the speed at
which we can send data from factory to race
track, between engineers. That technology has
also increased the level of our simulator and
what it’s able to crunch through in the
preparation work.
And that was just the start. We are now looking at all the different areas where we can
apply that ability to crunch the numbers more quickly. It allows us to look at every
different aspect, and it will all come down to those marginal gains in the end.
Gardner: Given that this is a team sport on many levels, you are therefore working with
a number of technology partners. What do you look for in a technology partner?
HPE has been able to increase
the speed at which we can
send data from factory to race
track, between engineers. That
technology has also increased
the level of our simulator and
what it’s able to crunch through
in the preparation work.

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Partner for performance
Wolff: In motorsport, you very quickly realize if you are doing a good job or not. Every
second weekend you go racing, and the results are shown on the track. It’s brutal
because if you are at the top step of the podium, you have done a great job. If you are at
the end, you need to do a better job. That’s a reality check we get every time we go
racing.
For us to be the best, we need to work with the best. We’re obviously very keen to
always work with the best-in-field, but also with companies able to identify the exact
needs we have and build a product or a package that helps us. Within motorsports, it’s
very specific. It’s not like a normal IT company or a normal business where you can
plug-and-play. We need to redefine what we can do, and what will bring added
performance.
We need to work with companies that are agile. Ideally they have experience within
motorsports. They know what you need, and they are able to deliver. They know what’s
not needed in motorsports because everything is very time sensitive. We need to make
sure we are working on the areas that bring performance -- and not wasting resources
and time in areas that ultimately are not going to help our track performance.
Gardner: A lot of times with motorsports it’s about eking out the most performance and
the highest numbers when it comes to variables like skidpad and the amounts of friction
versus acceleration. But I can see that Formula E is more about the interplay between
the driver, the performance, and the electrical systems efficiency.
Is there something we can learn from Formula E and apply back to the more general
electric automobile industry? It seems to me they are also fighting the battle to make the
batteries last longest and make the performance so efficient that every electron is used
properly.
Wolff: Absolutely. That’s why we have so many
manufacturers in Formula E … the biggest
names in the industry, like BMW, Audi, Jaguar
and now Mercedes and Porsche. They are all in
Formula E because they are all using it as a
platform to develop and showcase their
technology. And there are huge sums of money
being spent within the automotive industry now because there is such a race on to get
the right technology in the next generation of electric cars. The technology is advancing
so quickly. The beauty of Formula E is that we are at the very pinnacle of that.
We are purely performance-based and it means that those race cars and power trains
need to be the most efficient, and the quickest. All of the technology and everything
that’s learned from the manufacturers doing Formula E eventually filters back into the
The biggest names in the
industry … are all in Formula E
because they are all using it as
a platform to develop and
showcase their technology.

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organizations. It helps them to understand where they can improve and what the main
challenges are for their electrification and electric mobility in the end.
Gardner: There is also an auspicious timing element here. You are pursuing the
refinement and optimization of electric motorsports at the same time that artificial
intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies are becoming more pervasive,
more accessible, and brought right to the very edge … such as on a steering wheel.
Is there an opportunity for you to also highlight the use of such intelligence
technologies? Will data analytics start to infer what should be happening next, rather
than just people analyzing data? Is there a new chapter, if you will, in how AI can come
to bear on your quest for the Formula E best?
AI accelerates data
Wolff: A new chapter is just beginning. Certainly, in some of the conversations we’ve
had with our partners -- and particularly with HPE -- it’s like opening up a treasure chest,
because the one thing we are very good at in motorsports is generating lots of data.
The one thing that we are clear at, and it’s purely down to manpower and time and
resource, is the analyzing of data. There is only so much that we have capacity for. And
with AI there are a couple of examples that I wouldn’t even want to share because I
wouldn’t want my competitors to know what’s possible.
There are a couple of examples where we have seen
that AI can constitute the numbers in a matter of
seconds and spit out the results. I can’t even
comprehend how long it would take us to get to
those numbers otherwise. It’s a clear example of
how much AI is going to accelerate our learning on
the data side, and, particularly, because it’s software,
there’s so much analyzing of the data needed to
bring new levels of performance. For us it’s going to
be game changer and we are only at the start.
It’s incredibly exciting but also so important to make sure that we are getting it right.
There is so much possibility that if we don’t get it right, there could be big areas that we
could end up losing on.
Gardner: Perhaps soon, race spectators will not only be watching the cars and how fast
they are going. Perhaps there will be a dashboard that provides views of the AI
environment’s performance, too. It could be a whole new type of viewer experience --
when you’re looking at what the AI can do as well as the car. Whoever thought that AI
would be a spectator sport?
Wolff: It’s true and it’s not far away. It’s very exciting to think that that could be coming.
AI is going to accelerate
our learning on the data
side, and, particularly,
because it’s software,
there’s so much analyzing
of the data needed to bring
new levels of performance.

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Gardner: I’ll be watching. I am afraid we will have to leave it there. We have been
discussing how data-driven technology and innovation are making Formula E racing an
example for all endeavors where limits are tested and bested.
Please join me in thanking our guest, Susie Wolff, Team Principal at Venturi Formula E
based in Monaco. Thank you so much, Susie.
Wolff: Thank you very much.
Gardner: And a big thank you as well to our audience for joining this BriefingsDirect
Voice of the Customer digital transformation success story. I’m Dana Gardner, Principal
Analyst at Interarbor Solutions, your host for this ongoing series of Hewlett Packard
Enterprise-sponsored interviews.
Thanks again for listening, please pass this along to your IT community, and do come
back next time.
Listen to the podcast. Find it on iTunes. Download the transcript. Sponsor: Hewlett
Packard Enterprise.
A discussion on how data-driven technology and innovation are making electric cars an example
for all endeavors where limits are tested and bested. Copyright Interarbor Solutions, LLC, 2005-
2019. All rights reserved.
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