HPE Accelerates Mercedes-AMG F1 Car Design with Advanced High-Performance Computing

Image: A man in an F1 jacket, wearing glasses and a black Mercedes-AMG Petronas team shirt featuring HPE branding, looks towards the right side of the frame while speaking. He is positioned indoors with out-of-focus tropical plants visible in the background · Source

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team employs HPE’s HPC and hybrid cloud tech to shorten car simulation times from three days to one, enhancing aerodynamic testing and race performance under 2026 F1 regulations.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team has integrated Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) high-performance computing (HPC) technology to significantly speed up the testing and simulation of car designs, reducing pre-race simulation time from three days to just one. This advance plays a critical role in adapting to major 2026 season changes, which include new aerodynamic regulations, a powertrain split between internal combustion and electrical power, mandated 100% sustainable fuels, and a strict cost cap on team budgets. Mercedes AMG F1 team principal Toto Wolff has described these changes as requiring a complete rethink of car operations.

HPE supports Mercedes with a comprehensive infrastructure stack encompassing compute, networking, hybrid cloud, and security, enabling rapid computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations that evaluate the aerodynamic impact of new components such as wings, brake ducts, or suspension parts. The team’s switch to AMD-based HPE ProLiant servers and HPE GreenLake cloud solutions has replaced prior HPC platforms, allowing them to perform more simulation cycles between races, optimizing incremental performance gains.

According to Michael Taylor, Mercedes’ IT director, the engineering process begins with HPC simulations that model airflow and downforce changes on car components, creating a "digital twin" of the vehicle or its parts. Successful simulations lead to physical production and testing including wind tunnel and stress analyses before on-track deployment. HPE’s Max Walker described this as a continuous 24/7 development loop throughout the season, with cars evolving significantly from race to race.

Real-time data from up to 400 sensors on the F1 car—generating around 36,000 data channels—is transmitted via high-reliability Aruba Wi-Fi and SD-WAN networks from the race circuits to Mercedes’ UK headquarters and powertrain facilities. This enables engineers to monitor performance and react swiftly; for example, data from an engine sensor detected a serious fluid leak during a past race, allowing the team to adjust engine mode dynamically and avoid failure.

The partnership with HPE has also introduced a more ruggedized and performance-dense IT platform at the tracks, replacing ordinary PCs with a robust system based on HPE Edgeline and Aruba CX networking. In the factory, the infrastructure includes a software-defined data center using HPE Synergy compute and Aruba CX networking, enabling automation and rapid scaling of compute resources to meet engineering demands.

HPE is further advancing this collaboration by integrating operational AI tools that autonomously monitor and recommend fixes for network issues, reducing human oversight while maintaining security through encrypted connections and cloud-delivered protections aligned with the complex, distributed nature of F1 operations.

Investment decisions on new technologies or car components are made swiftly by Mercedes’ management, balancing performance gains against Formula 1’s financial cost cap. Enhanced HPC capabilities such as HPE’s upcoming Gen 13 servers—offering 50% more memory bandwidth—are expected to improve CFD workloads substantially, with ambitions to further reduce simulation turnaround times below one day. The partnership continues to explore machine learning and reinforcement learning techniques aimed at increasing simulation consistency and reliability.

Overall, HPE’s advanced computing and networking solutions have become integral to Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team’s engineering excellence, helping them maintain competitiveness under evolving technical and financial regulations in Formula 1.