Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team has taken a step further in their relationship with Oracle and introduced a new Team name, Oracle Red Bull Racing, for the upcoming season while also unveiling the new car: the RB18. The deal is set to be worth 500 million dollars across five years, according to AP. 

Oracle Red Bull intends not only to replicate their success on last year’s F1 Drivers’ Championship but also multiply it. They will expand their use of the Oracle Cloud across their most significant areas of operation, these areas include analytics-based race strategy, optimized engine development, AI and machine learning-powered driver training and a tailored fan experience.

“Oracle Cloud enabled us to make race-day decisions that helped Max Verstappen win the 2021 Drivers’ Championship. Discovering and reacting to opportunities quickly, is crucial to our success on and off the track, and Oracle is integral in that effort. Every element of our performance is driven by data analysis.

Having Oracle as our title partner shows the confidence we have in their expertise and their ability to deliver a true competitive advantage,” said Christian Horner, Oracle Red Bull Racing Team Principal and CEO.

During the use of the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) last year, the team increased the number of simulations ran by 1,000x, which allowed them to improve the accuracy of predictions and sharpened their decision-making. But not only did they increase the number, but also accelerated simulation speed by 10x, giving race strategists more time to make the right call this way.

Another important result of the use of OCI is the significant reduction of the cost of billions of simulations, a critical point under Formula 1’s budget regulations.

With the enhancement of their relationship, OCI will enable Oracle Redd Bull Racing Team to broaden the volume and diversity of data they analyze and increase the speed of simulations run to better their predictions that will eventually lead to the podium.

Something that is important in the sport, and that Formula 1 is looking to engage more is the fan experience worldwide. Last season, Red Bull and Oracle launched the first-of-its-kind fan loyalty platform, powered by OCI, “The Red Bull Racing Paddock” to enhance their fans’ experience globally. Since the platform was initiated, the team has seen more than nine times increase in its member sign-ups.

For 2022, Oracle Red Bull Racing will include new features and capabilities in the platform, including the ability to create content generated by the users, bringing this way a deeper layer of personalization to the fans.

“The presence of Oracle, one of the world’s largest cloud technology companies, as title partner not only signals huge confidence in Red Bull Racing’s ability to lead the technology race on track, it will also enable us to drive forward our ambitions for fan engagement, a core tenet of our marketing strategy.

"We want to take fans with us on our competitive journey in F1, putting them right at the heart of the racing action and Oracle’s world class innovation and technology will help us achieve that goal,” said Oliver Hughes, Oracle Red Bull Racing Chief Marketing Officer.

“Red Bull Racing has been more committed than any other F1 team in its use of technology to gain an edge, and it is paying off. Our commitment to this partnership reflects our belief that OCI is a strategic weapon on race day, helps create the most exciting fan experience in sports, and can define the future of F1. Oracle Red Bull Racing is, and will continue to be, the most forward-thinking and innovative F1 team in the world,” declared Ariel Kelman, Oracle Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.

As for their Power Engine Development, Oracle is working with the team to develop the next generation of Formula 1 engines that are set to debut in 2026, as Red Bull Racing becomes one of the only four current engine manufacturers for Formula 1. They will be using OCI to optimize the modeling of new engine combustion chamber to reduce costs while also improving results.

In this partnership, Red Bull advanced Technologies and Oracle are also working together to develop the next generation of world-class drivers. Red Bull’s junior drivers will be using AI and machine learning to have a better understanding of how data can inform and fine tune their driving style in order to reduce lap times.

But this strategy will not only be used for junior drivers, but also for Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports, marking the evolution of a partnership in one of the world’s fastest growing industries. The Esports team will take a cue from the real-world counterpart as they’ll be using OCI-powered analytics to enhance car set up, improve race strategy and providing drivers with training that will help them achieve ideal lap times on any virtual track and with any simulated weather.