F1 News: Red Bull Reveals Innovative New Ways To Find More Performance
To further improve the performance of their Formula 1 car, Red Bull Racing is willing to take the help of Artificial Intelligence, or AI. Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey has approved an investigation into the matter that would help them assess the gaps and utilize AI in the best way possible.
AI is being currently used in simulations to train F1 drivers. This helps them improve their on-track skills while being off the track. However, the use of AI for the design department is now being 'investigated'.
The team's Chief Designer Craig Skinner stresses that AI first needs to be taught what it needs to look for. But before teaching AI, the teacher needs to have a full understanding of what needs to be found.
Skinner hinted that the team must have a complete understanding of what makes a car go fast before going full AI.
Skinner told the Talking Bulls podcast when asked about AI:
“It’s a field that is being investigated. And it has its uses I think.
“With AI you’ve got to teach it, you need to teach it what it’s looking for, so ultimately it comes back to again having the understanding in the first place of what you’re actually looking for.
"What is it that makes a fast racing car? What do you want out of the aero? What do you want to have in vehicle dynamics?
"So yes, we do use it and we are investigating it. But ultimately, it all comes down to how much you understand the problem in the first place.”
Red Bull recently set a record with their RB19 F1 car and racing driver Max Verstappen for the most consecutive wins in Formula 1, courtesy of Newey's “never compromise” philosophy. Skinner revealed how even an ugly car on the grid won't matter to Newey as long as it was fast:
“With him [Newey] it’s always about car performance, nothing else matters.
"And I think when I joined in 2006, and then he arrived, obviously, (it was) my first Formula One car that I’d worked on.
“He just completely changed the mindset about how you go about designing a Formula One car, there was no compromise. Everything was always about adding performance. And it’s just that single-minded vision. It’s like, okay, that’s how you do.
"Looks don’t matter. If it looks horrible but it makes the car faster, we’ll put it on the car."
I'm not sure if teams would entirely rely on AI in the near future to design their Formula 1 cars. However, I'm sure that AI has got the best teacher in the world to learn how to design a Formula 1 car.