Linux and Formula One

As a technical sport motor racing demands of its participants a close understanding of the technologies that can help them. F1 motor racing is probably second only to the aerospace industry in the application of aerodynamic simulation and wind tunnel technology. It is a testament to the rapid advance of Linux in high performance computing that most teams in Formula 1 have been using Linux systems in their aerodynamic and engine workshops for a number of years.

"Formula One is a product excellence business that's all about innovation and technology," says Jonathan Neale, the managing director of McLaren Racing. "We're competing for first place in an environment where the difference between first and tenth is about 0.6 seconds, so we're constantly seeking fractions of a second in performance improvement. On average we'll make a change to the car every 20 minutes during the course of a season, and to do that, simulation is vital in making efficient changes to the car." Back in the factory, McLaren uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis running on Linux on SGI Altix high performance computers to simulate and predict the car's behaviour.

Motor racing wasn't always like this. Once upon a time those daring young men diced with death and each other in their flying machines, with little more than grease blown overalls, a loose flying-helmet, oil-splattered goggles and a V8 engine between them and the oncoming road. The skill of the driver was everything.

Times have changed. Modern motor racing in the 21st century is a team sport, and the difference in performance between the front of the grid and the also rans is measured in hundredths of a second. Every year the cars get faster, the lap records come down, and the drivers and cars reach new limits of endurance and performance, despite a regular tightening of the rules for the sake of safety and increased competitiveness. Every new rule that is imposed to slow the cars down or level the playing field becomes a challenge for the designers, to readjust the vital balance of weight, material, power, downforce, grip, and traction.

A race is won in the factory

A driver still needs courage, a sure eye, a streak of irrationality and split-second timing. But when it comes to finding those extra few fractions of a second, design is everything. Good drivers are valued not just for their speed and courage, but for their sensitivity to the nuances of the car's performance, which helps the mechanics and engineers to adjust a millimetre here or a centimetre there, which can be the difference between success and failure in this most unforgiving of sports. The technology and science applied to the development of race cars is more akin to the development of jet fighters than the application of science to any other sport, and Linux, running on a variety of high performance configurations, is a key part of the equation for all the leading teams.

The Renault racing team, for instance, first began experimenting with Linux clusters as far back as 1998, and has used IBM Linux systems to run critical database and telemetry applications since 2001. Telemetry systems transmit data from the car to the technicians on the pit wall during the race. "When the car is running it transmits a huge amount of real-time data on the critical parameters of the engine or chassis to the ground staff - this system is run on Linux," said Christophe Verdier, Renault's F1 Team IT director, back in 2005.