Kuala lumpur: As Formula One (F1) prepares for one of its biggest technical overhauls in 2026, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team is turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to reshape how its garage operates, a shift it believes will define the next era of race-weekend performance. Head of IT operations and development Steven Riley said the rising complexity of the new car architecture is already forcing teams to rethink how they design, test, and develop components.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the transition for the team has been underway for some time, with digital tools and augmented reality (AR) assisting engineers in managing the increasingly intricate parts that will form the next generation of cars. Riley stated that AI-driven data analysis is set to deliver one of the most significant operational changes in the garage next year. “We are going to see big development across all F1 teams over the next few years in how they adopt AI to analyse data, provide insight and potentially even guidance in terms of how we should be setting up the car and how we should be racing the car,” he said during a virtual media roundtable with TeamViewer recently.
For Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, the move toward more digital-heavy operations builds on a transformation already underway. In 2021, the team entered a five-year partnership with TeamViewer to streamline workflows from the factory to the pit wall. Riley’s department was responsible for building and maintaining the IT backbone supporting an extraordinary period in the sport with eight consecutive constructors’ championships from 2014 to 2021.
The past few years have been challenging. However, the ethos remains: keep pushing the limits, keep finding gains, keep building toward winning again. Riley mentioned that the team used TeamViewer to minimise setup time in testing and development, ensuring that all rigs were 100 percent accurate before testing began. “Instead of referring to built guides and designs elsewhere in the facility, our team can incorporate AR into their workflow and immediately see how the parts form that assembly. Gains in every area of the team’s operations add up to improve performance where it really matters – on the racetrack,” he added.
Riley noted that F1’s shift toward centralised engineering has deepened the reliance on technology, with only 60 personnel permitted to work on the car at the track, and an additional 30 engineers stationed at the race support room in Brackley. This setup mirrors the real-time communication systems used inside the garage, resulting in a race team split across continents but connected as one. Riley emphasized that the role of technology partners in strengthening Mercedes’ engineering ecosystem points to TeamViewer’s work in AR development and simulator integration as practical examples of how collaboration feeds performance.
He said Mercedes works closely with technology partners, including TeamViewer, to develop tailored solutions that support the team’s performance needs. Despite the 2025 season’s intense final phase, Riley affirmed that the team remains fully focused on race execution while accelerating preparations for the 2026 regulation cycle. As the 2025 season concludes this weekend in Qatar and Abu Dhabi on Dec 5-7, the paddock is already looking to a 2026 campaign that stretches from the Australian Grand Prix on March 6-8 to the Abu Dhabi finale on Dec 4-6, spanning five continents.