Tata Communications Urges Fans to Develop F1 Prediction Tool

The tool should also enable Formula One Management to rank the predictions and reward the fans that forecast the most accurate outcomes. Julie Woods-Moss, Chief Marketing Officer and CEO of NextGen Business at Tata Communications, says, "The way we watch sports has changed for good - people want to be more engaged, sharing their own commentary via social media and using different devices to follow multiple video feeds and build their own picture of the action. The second challenge of the F1 Connectivity Innovation Prize is about finding new techniques for fans to experience and engage with the sport. We had a remarkable response to the first challenge, and I encourage technical visionaries and creative minds around the world to take part in the final challenge to shape innovation in F1."

Creating the prediction tool is the second challenge. The first challenge of the F1 Connectivity Innovation prize, set by the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, was to design a new approach for displaying critical race car telemetry and sensor data to enable engineers at the race track and at the factory in the UK to make more accurate decisions through real-time data visualisation. The winning entries came from the UK, Spain and Australia.

Each entry will be evaluated by a judging panel of drivers and F1 technologists who include John Morrison, Chief Technical Officer of Formula One Management; Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team race driver; Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical) of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team; David Coulthard, former Formula One race driver and F1 commentator; and Martin Brundle, former Formula One race driver and F1 commentator. They are joined by Mehul Kapadia, Managing Director of F1 Business at Tata Communications.

The deadline for entries for the second challenge is September 8 2015. A full brief can be downloaded from the F1 Connectivity Innovation Prize website. Beside the prize money, other prizes include VIP trips to the final of the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship, the 2015 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.