At this year’s Huawei IDI Forum in Munich, strategist and data scientist Neil Martin—who has held senior roles at McLaren, Red Bull Racing and Ferrari—shared a compelling narrative about how predictive analytics, simulation technology and real-time data transmission have transformed the sport.
His insights offer powerful lessons for telecom operators navigating their own digital transformation, particularly around OSS/BSS modernisation.
Formula 1: A real-time data powerhouse
Formula 1 is not just a sporting spectacle—it's a high-tech, data-intensive operation running on split-second decisions and sophisticated modelling. “Each race reaches three to four hundred million viewers live,” Martin explained. “That’s the kind of global audience you get once every four years with the Olympics or World Cup. We do it every two weeks.”
Behind the scenes, the sport runs on data. A single F1 car transmits 100 megabytes of telemetry data per lap. That stream is analysed not just in the garage, but bounced back to headquarters within 60 milliseconds, where 40–50 engineers monitor performance remotely. “That gives us the same capability as being trackside—without the carbon footprint of flying a small army around the world,” Martin said.
For telecoms, the parallel is striking. Like an F1 team, operators must manage highly distributed, complex systems with real-time responsiveness. OSS/BSS systems need to move from being passive, retrospective platforms to predictive, real-time decision engines.
Turning tragedy into transformation
Martin also highlighted how Formula 1 used data to transform safety—another powerful analogy for telcos dealing with increasingly critical infrastructure. After a period between 1950 and 1994 that saw 47 driver fatalities, the industry turned to predictive analytics.
“By repurposing the black box data we were already collecting for performance, we were able to understand the anatomy of crashes and build predictive safety models,” he said. The result? Only one further fatality in over 30 years.
One tangible example of data's power in this domain: the “halo” cockpit safety structure. Initially resisted for aesthetic reasons, it was introduced in 2018 after modelling predicted fatal risks without it. It went on to save multiple lives within its first two seasons.
The message to telecoms is clear: data that’s already available for performance optimisation can be weaponised for customer experience, fraud prevention, and network resilience—if operators choose to repurpose it wisely.
Precision, pit stops, and predictive modelling
Perhaps the most memorable part of Martin’s talk centred around the orchestration of pit stops—a seemingly simple manoeuvre that is actually a masterclass in operational precision. “There are 36 coordinated operations in under two seconds,” he said. “We treat it like a mathematical equation, and everything—from the car’s parking position to the backup wheel guns—has been modelled and stress-tested.”
His team discovered that a car parked just 10cm off target increased stop time by 25%. So they introduced “stabiliser” team members—people whose sole role is to press down on the car during jacking. “It’s classic Occam’s Razor: sometimes the simplest solution is the best,” he laughed.
Telecoms operators frequently over-engineer solutions when simpler operational tweaks could yield faster ROI. As they replatform their OSS/BSS stacks, the lesson here is to look for process improvement and orchestration value, not just system upgrades.
Digital twins and AI-augmented decision making
Martin also underscored the game-changing role of simulation and digital twins in development and operations. “In the old days, we’d send 120 people to the track to test new parts. Now, we create mathematical models, run them in a simulator with the drivers, and only then commit to building a component.”
This mindset—code before steel—is central to how telecoms can speed up innovation cycles. Whether it’s simulating customer journeys or stress-testing new billing logic, a digital twin approach dramatically reduces time-to-value.
The future, Martin argued, is about AI-augmented decision making. Citing an example from the controversial 2021 F1 season finale, he introduced Apex by PaceTech, an AI-powered “virtual race director” that consumes rules, sensor data, and even video feeds to recommend actions. “It removes the human from the data collection but not the decision itself,” he said. “That’s the kind of hybrid intelligence that’s scalable, consistent, and fair.”
OSS/BSS systems of the future will need exactly this blend—real-time AI guidance feeding human decision-makers who set the commercial guardrails.
Lessons for telecoms: Speed, safety, and simulation
Martin’s keynote was ostensibly about motorsport, but it echoed many of the themes currently shaking up the telco space: how to modernise complex legacy systems, how to embrace AI without losing control, and how to turn operations from reactive to proactive.
“We were once a engineering company,” he concluded, “but now, F1 teams are data companies. And actually, we’re all in analytics races today.”
For telcos grappling with OSS/BSS modernisation, that might be the most important takeaway of all.
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