Apple looking to takeover McLarenFormula 1 

  • Thread starter Liquid
  • 28 comments
  • 1,562 views
DK
If it goes through, that's them screwed at the pit-stops because they'll get rid of the front and rear jack-men. :sly:
Click to expand...

giphy.gif
 
It is very unlikely that it will effect Team McLaren's operations and it most likely to do with getting them to build drive trains and chassis for their Apple car. Apple really want to put their design and tech on someones else's underpinnings and I suppose McLaren would be a good shout. I guess it's going to be pricey model then rather than paring with Fiat or something :lol:

R1600Turbo
Oops, just posted this in Automotive news since I didn't expect it to be here. Mod can delete if necessary.
Click to expand...

It would probably be better suited in the auto new thread. Or maybe even merged with the Apple Car Thread.
 
I was really looking forward to the iP1, the i570S, the i650S, and the i675LT. What a shame.
 
Liquid
It's probably geared more towards Apple using McLaren to build cars for them but it's still of note for the F1 team.
Click to expand...
Most of McLaren's recent sponsor deals have been from a B2B perspective, so it makes sense for Apple to get involved with them. McLaren make the ECUs used by all of the teams, but more importantly, I remember Jeremy Clarkson's review of the P1 where he described the way the car uses the ECU to directly apply power to the drivetrain to ensure peak performance. I don't think that it would be too difficult to reprogram an ECU to ensure that power is used most efficiently, and that would definitely be of interest to Apple if they want to enter the automotive industry in some capacity.
 
In the time since these rumours first emerged, two subsequent stories have caught my eye:

First, McLaren's sister company, McLaren Applied Technologies, has won the tender from Williams to supply batteries for Formula E; they won it on the grounds that they could make a battery that could last an entire race, removing the need to swap cars.

Secondly, Microsoft have expanded their motorsport projects to include Toyota in the WRC. I'm not sure what the state of their relationship with Renault is since Renault purchased Lotus, though.

I think both cases show that motorsport is a venture that is increasingly appealing to technology companies.
 
Johnny Herbert just said something interesting (I'm as shocked as anyone): that Formula One cars transmit thirty gigabytes of data during a race; to put it in perspective, that's seven hundred and fifty million numbers. The ability to constantly transmit such high volumes of data in real-time would be challenging for teams and of great interest to technology companies like Microsoft and Apple because it tests their infrastructure, and because it's a competitive environment, pushes them to develop their abilities.

What Microsoft is doing with Toyota is even more interesting because they're constantly streaming high volumes of data from a wide geographic area where coverage in individual regions can vary wildly.
 
prisonermonkeys
I think both cases show that motorsport is a venture that is increasingly appealing to technology companies.
Click to expand...
Interesting. But is it motorsport itself that's attracting these tech giants? Could it be more about co-opting the engineering talent that's trained, motivated and focused in competitive, top level racing teams?
 
Dotini
Interesting. But is it motorsport itself that's attracting these tech giants? Could it be more about co-opting the engineering talent that's trained, motivated and focused in competitive, top level racing teams?
Click to expand...
Potentially, but there's only so much cross-over between what the teams do and what the tech companies are interested in.
 
prisonermonkeys
Potentially, but there's only so much cross-over between what the teams do and what the tech companies are interested in.
Click to expand...
Technically, yes. But it's the people factor, winnowed, disciplined and trained to compete under intense pressure and schedules that are of such great interest.
 

Latest Posts

Back