Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team and NetApp Renew Partnership

• 06 Feb 2024
• TM Team
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The Aston Martin Aramco Formula One® Team and NetApp, the intelligent data infrastructure company, announced the renewal of their partnership, designating NetApp as the team’s Global Data Infrastructure Partner. NetApp has been a key partner to the team since it returned to Formula One® racing in 2021 after more than 60 years away from the track. This partnership renewal builds on the previous three years of successful collaboration, empowering Aston Martin Aramco to use NetApp’s storage technology to instantly store, manage, and access the immense amounts of data the team needs to optimize its performance.

Data gives Formula One® drivers and their support teams the insights they need to make the right decisions to optimize their race performance. Data powers simulations that help teams predict and respond to scenarios that might occur during a race such as changing weather conditions or an unplanned pit stop. Using data to understand the impact of these situations in advance enables them to adapt in real-time in a race where milliseconds matter. Without those insights, the teams might not make a decision about how to respond before the opportunity has passed by. During any race, the Aston Martin Aramco team collects data from hundreds of sensors, including real-time performance statistics such as track temperature, tire degradation, and aerodynamics. Instant access to that data, both trackside and at the team’s state-of-the-art AMR Technology Campus (AMRTC), gives the team the data it needs to adapt its race strategy in real-time. Since sharing data between the track and team headquarters plays such a central role in the team’s success, data storage and management is a mission-critical function.

“We are delighted to renew our partnership with NetApp as we enter our fourth season together since returning to Formula One in 2021,” said Clare Lansley, CIO of Aston Martin Aramco. “NetApp has been with us all the way on this journey together and are fundamental to our trackside operations and at our Headquarters at the AMRTC in Silverstone. We use data to improve our performance and go faster and NetApp’s work with the team is vital to this success.”

By leveraging the data NetApp stores and manages, the Aston Martin Aramco team reached the podium eight times, scored 280 points, and finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship in the 2023 Formula One® season. By having NetApp as its Global Data Infrastructure Partner, the team will receive continued support for its data storage and analysis including:

·       Speed: The NetApp FlexPod® data center solution helps the team instantly access and store immense amounts of data, transferring data quickly and efficiently between trackside, race headquarters, and the factory to enable near-real time decisions that affect race strategy.

·       Reliability: NetApp® Cloud Volumes ONTAP® ensures enterprise reliability and continuous operations in case of failures, so the team’s data is always there when it needs it.

·       Observability: NetApp® Cloud Insights makes it easy for the team to monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize all its resources and applications so it can efficiently adopt and operate new technology both on premises and in the cloud, providing full-stack observability.

·       Security: NetApp® Storage Workload Security provides continuous protection against both insider and external threats by monitoring and protecting the data held on the NetApp platform.

·       Scalability: The entire NetApp solution can scale and grow so the team can rise to any challenge even as its IT requirements grow and change.

“NetApp and the Aston Martin Aramco team are well matched as partners because we are both dedicated to the pursuit of breakthrough performance and true innovation,” said Gabie Boko, Chief Marketing Officer at NetApp. “When Aston Martin returned to the Formula One® circuit after more than 60 years away, they needed a technology partner to help them rise to every moment, both on and off the track. NetApp provides Aston Martin Aramco with an intelligent data infrastructure that runs at the speed of Formula One.”

The sheer speed at which Aston Martin Aramco can harness its stored data gives it a clear competitive advantage. NetApp data solutions enable the team to fuel its relentless pursuit of innovation as it designs faster vehicles and optimizes its race strategy.