Tata Communications’ Formula 1 challenge

LONDON: Tata Communications, the official connectivity provider of Formula 1, has called on enthusiasts to design a Formula 1 Grand Prix prediction tool for fans.

Launched for the second year in a row, the challenge aptly named 2015 F1 Connectivity Innovation Prize is targeted at tickling the brightest minds around the world to harness their ingenuity, technical know-how and passion for F1 racing and engage fans in the sport through two technology challenges.

Set by Formula One Management, the challenge is to design a prediction tool that asks F1 followers to forecast how each Grand Prix will unfold, and to submit their predictions for each driver and team for evaluation. The tool should also enable Formula One Management to rank the predictions and reward the fans that forecast the most accurate outcomes.

Developers can submit their entries for the 2015 FORMULA 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by September 8, 2015. Winners not only stand to win $50,000 but also a VIP trip to the event.

In a sport where success is defined by the ability to adapt quickly as circumstances change, drivers receive crucial support from their teams’ ability to make decisions based on data-driven predictive analytics.

John Morrison, Chief Technical Officer, Formula One Management, said, “Each Grand Prix weekend, fans are glued to their TVs to see how drivers and teams respond to changing circumstances such as adverse weather conditions or an unexpected safety car deployment. With this challenge, we are asking entrants to create a platform where followers can use practice data and their knowledge of the sport to predict how the story of each race will play out and who will emerge as the winner.”

Julie Woods-Moss, Chief Marketing Officer and CEO, NextGen Business, Tata Communications, said, “People want to be more engaged, sharing their own commentary via social media and by using different devices to follow multiple video feeds and build their own picture of the action.”

Martin Brundle, former Formula 1 race driver and F1 commentator for Sky Sports F1, said, “In addition to bringing existing die-hard fans closer to the sport, a predictive analysis tool would also open up new possibilities on how the sport could evolve and attract new followers in the future. This challenge has incredible potential and I’m looking forward to being a part of the judging panel.”

Each entry will be evaluated by a panel including Morrison; Lewis Hamilton, MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team race driver; Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical), MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team; David Coulthard, former Formula 1 race driver and F1 commentator; Brundle and Mehul Kapadia, Managing Director, F1 Business, Tata Communications.

It must be recalled that the first challenge of the F1 Connectivity Innovation prize, set by the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, was to design a new approach for displaying critical race car telemetry and sensor data to enable engineers at the race track and at the factory in the UK to make accurate decisions through real-time data visualisation.

The winning entries came from the UK, Spain and Australia.