Red Bull explains how AI is influencing its F1 race strategy

Outubro 17, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

Red Bull is using an artificial intelligence system that recommends actions to the team during a grand prix.

During an interview with CNBC, Red Bull head of technical and performance partnerships Jack Harington explained that the team built the tool with its title partner, Oracle.

What began as a search tool to help engineers interpret F1’s regulations and past rulings has since become an “agentic” AI that draws on more information and recommends actions during a race.

“It’s actually making decisions for us,” Harington explained.

Oracle and Red Bull announced a multi-year extension of their title partnership in February 2026. The Milton Keynes outfit explained in the press release at the time: “The extended partnership builds on the team’s legacy, with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and Oracle AI underpinning the 2026 debut of Red Bull Ford Powertrains’ next-generation hybrid power unit, advanced race-strategy simulations, and a pioneering AI-powered strategy agent.”

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Liam Fabre

Harington used the example of the 2025 Italian Grand Prix to show how the AI agent works. On the opening lap of the race at Monza, Verstappen went off at the first chicane while fighting McLaren’s Lando Norris for the lead. According to Harington, the agent advised Red Bull to hand the place back to avoid a penalty.

While that recommendation went against the team’s view of the situation, Red Bull followed the instruction. Verstappen escaped a penalty, soon retook the lead from the McLaren driver and won the race by 19.2 seconds.

Harington added that “Formula 1 is and will always be a human sport”, but explained that the AI agent can help enhance the team.

Red Bull is not the only team using AI. Google is working with McLaren to bring its Gemini AI tools, Mercedes has partnered with Microsoft and Ferrari is working with IBM on AI-powered experiences for fans.