The Formula One racing team at Honda has announced a new IT deal with IBM and Dassault, which will see the car maker taking IT software and support services from the two companies to support its global design and collaborative working efforts.
The Honda Racing F1 team became a wholly-owned part of car maker Honda in 2005, since when the company has been taking a more active role in the development of the race cars and associated technology. The team is still located in Brackley, Northants as well as having access to Honda designers and engineers in Japan.
"Formula One cars are completely wired. Performance data from the vehicle is fed directly to the driver and the pits. That information needs to be available instantly to everyone involved, and they could be in Japan or in the UK," said Mark Wilterding, a global partner at IBM's product lifecycle management unit.
The team will use a range of technology from both companies to improve collaborative working between staff at Brackley and Honda's various design and technical locations in Japan. Dassault has a long-standing relationship with Formula One, with its product development software used by several teams for design and modelling.
"Formula One is the pinnacle of the motorsports industry, where the ability to compress the development cycle of the car is critical," David France, information technology director at the Honda Racing F1 Team said in a statement.
