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HPE news. Tech insights. World-class innovations. We take you straight to the source — interviewing tech's foremost thought leaders and change-makers that are propelling businesses and industries forward.
Aubrey Lovell (00:09):
Hey, everyone, and welcome back to Technology Now, a weekly show from Hewlett Packard Enterprise where we take what's happening in the world and explore how it's changing the way organizations are using technology. We're your hosts, Aubrey Lovell...
Michael Bird (00:21):
... and Michael Bird, coming to you from HPE's headquarters in Houston, Texas. In this week's episode, we are sitting down with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team driver, George Russell. We'll be asking how tech helps him focus and stay ahead. We'll be talking about dealing with a constantly changing world of regulations, and we'll be asking what lies ahead for him into 2025 and beyond.
(00:45):
And it's worth saying that we're releasing a video version of this episode, so if you'd prefer to watch, rather than just listen, check out the show notes for links.
Aubrey Lovell (00:53):
Plenty to look forward to, and I'm sure a load of helpful takeaways for our organizations as well. And I know, Bird, you must be in absolute heaven because you love F1 and you get to interview George Russell. So, super excited to hear, and if you're the kind of person who needs to know why what's going on in the world matters to your organization, this podcast is for you. And if you haven't yet, subscribe to your podcast app of choice so you don't miss out.
(01:16):
All right, let's get into it. And over to you, Michael.
Michael Bird (01:21):
Yes. Thank you, Aubrey. I'm here at HPE headquarters, which is quite a lot sunnier than our offices in the UK, you won't be surprised to hear. We are recording this during the last few races of the 2024 Formula 1 season, which at the time of recording has seen seven separate drivers win a race alongside some exciting on track battles.
(01:42):
One of those winners of the 2024 season is George Russell, who's had a pretty good season with one win at the Austrian Grand Prix and, although later disqualified for technical reasons, he finished first in Belgium after a stellar drive with some very clever tire strategy. With several titles in karting and from Formula 1 feeder series to his name before joining Formula 1 in 2019, George has had a string of successes, as well as some challenging points in his career.
(02:09):
How does he stay ahead when he's on top and motivated when times are tough? How does he make the most of the tech surrounding him to give him a competitive edge? Earlier on, I had the chance to ask him first hand.
(02:23):
George, welcome to the show.
George Russell (02:25):
Thank you.
Michael Bird (02:26):
I'd first like to understand how you got to where you are today. Can you just give me a bit of a pot of history as to how you got to driving for the Mercedes F1 team?
George Russell (02:37):
It all started with my brother, Benjy. He's 11 years older than me and he used to race go-karting. He got into go-karting through a friend's birthday party. He did the birthday party when he was 10 or 11 years old and he said, "Dad, I really like this. Can I do it more often?" And then he started racing nationally.
(02:59):
I was just a kid, so I ended up being brought up on the racetrack, following him around. I had a little pedal tractor. I used to pedal around the racetracks and I'd even have a water tank on the back that I'd used to collect the water for the radiators to cool the engine down. And for me, racing has just been my life.
(03:22):
I started at seven years old in go-karting. Until I was 16, I was racing with my father who was a mechanic for me. My mum was there, looking at all of the setups and writing down all the notes. And then it came onto a European level when I was around 12 years old.
(03:42):
That's when I first started racing against the likes of Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon, Lando Norris, Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon. Pierre Gasly was just a little bit older. Carlos Sainz was a little bit older. We were all at the racetrack together, which is pretty crazy to think we're now in Formula 1 together.
Michael Bird (04:04):
I'd love you to tell me what it was like to finally have a full-time drive at an F1 team. What was that feeling like? What was that first season like?
George Russell (04:12):
It was definitely very emotional when I found out. It was like a dream come true. And...
Michael Bird (04:18):
What's the first thing you did when you found out? Did you call somebody?
George Russell (04:21):
I was at a racetrack. I was in Russia, 2018. I was racing F2. It was Sunday morning and I got a phone call from my manager, Gwen, who said, "Claire Williams would like to have a chat." She came in and she said, "You're going to be a Formula 1 driver."
Michael Bird (04:42):
Wow.
George Russell (04:42):
That was a really special moment. My parents were at the racetrack, so I literally went straight from the meeting, told my parents, "Need to have a word.", and told my parents and we all had a tear in our eye. I was just itching my eye there. I just realized there's a tear in my eye as I had an itch. We had a tear in our eye. It was a huge moment because that's what we'd all been working towards.
(05:09):
Now I have a nephew who's starting go-karting. He's eight years old, still debating whether he wants to go through with it or not, or exactly what it is that he likes the most. My parents are taking care of him. The effort and the sacrifice they're putting into it, the same way as they did with me, that is going to set him up the same way as that set me up.
(05:38):
And I'm so grateful and thankful I had parents who pushed me, who believed in me, but also wanted to follow this dream.
Michael Bird (05:49):
Can you just tell me about the physical demands of F1? I think from the outside world, people are like, "Oh, it's just driving a car around a track." But it's so much more-
George Russell (05:57):
It is just driving a car around a track.
Michael Bird (05:57):
Just like popping to the shops.
George Russell (06:00):
Yeah.
Michael Bird (06:01):
F1 drivers have big necks. Can you-
George Russell (06:03):
Yeah, strong necks.
Michael Bird (06:05):
Strong necks. My neck doesn't look that big-
George Russell (06:07):
No.
Michael Bird (06:07):
... because I've got a huge head, so the perception is not great. We are strapped into the race car, strapped over the shoulders, across the waist, and through the crotch. If I take a corner at Silverstone... There's a corner called Copse, where we'd go through at about 190 miles an hour, and we'd be having about 5G of force on our body as we corner through. So, you're strapped into this car and suddenly you... Imagine when you go round a roundabout, you get thrown around a lot, it's the same for us, but you're strapped in.
(06:43):
I turn into the corner, and the whole body just wants to go, so your arms are trying to move over, your legs are trying to bend, your head is...
George Russell (06:52):
Basically, the car's trying to throw you out of the car.
Michael Bird (06:55):
The car's trying to throw you out. The same way is if you go round a roundabout too quickly, you hit your head on the window or whatever.
George Russell (07:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Michael Bird (07:01):
So, we've got to have a lot of core strength, arms to turn the steering wheel. Our neck is really important because we'd have about 50 kilograms of force pushing through our neck-
George Russell (07:14):
Wow.
Michael Bird (07:14):
... in the opposite direction. When I do my neck training, I can hold up to about 55 kilos on my neck. Which to think, you lay on your bed and you put your head over it and try and hold 50 kilos on your neck, it's pretty serious. And then through our legs and into our back when we hit the brake pedal, we've got about 180 kilos going through your leg when you hit the brakes.
(07:41):
And then the cockpit itself, we have all of these electronical boxes within. We have to wear a really thick, fireproof layer. We have a underlayer, our race suit, balaclava, helmet. The cockpit's around 60 degrees Celsius, so we can lose up to about four kilos in a race, just fluids, in one and a half hours.
George Russell (08:01):
Wow.
Michael Bird (08:01):
So, it's a pretty good weight loss routine, if you want to do that. I've spoken with the bosses of the sport to say, "How can we showcase better what we go through in the cars?" Because when you watch it, it's man and machine, sometimes you don't comprehend there's actually a human being inside of that thing, controlling it.
(08:26):
Can you talk about how Formula 1 is a team sport? I think from a non-F1 fan, they look at the drivers and they go, "It is all about the driver." But it's so much more than than, right?
George Russell (08:34):
Oh, absolutely. We're the final piece of the jigsaw. Putting that final piece in is almost the easy part of it sometimes. We have a very difficult job, but it is the 2,000 people who make this piece of art that we race around the circuits. And we're at the mercy of the car's performance.
(09:03):
Let's say if you take the very fastest driver and the 10th fastest driver. If everyone's performing at their very best and we don't make mistakes, there's probably no more than two tenths between the top 10. Whereas if you take the top 10 race cars, there can be seconds between them. It's the same drivers. They haven't just suddenly learned how to drive overnight. That is the challenge. We are like the cherry on the cake, but if the cake is not there, then you can't get those victories.
(09:43):
The sport is changing a little bit and they've put in some financial regulations to try and make it more of an even playing field. We have to use the wind tunnels a lot to develop the car. If you win the championship, you get the least amount of time in the wind tunnel. If you finish last, you get the most amount. Again, it's to try and give the ones at the back more of an opportunity to catch up.
Aubrey Lovell (10:05):
Wow, that was absolutely amazing. Thank you, Michael. What an awesome interview. And thanks to George as well. Okay. We'll be back with more from Your Interview in a moment, so don't go anywhere.
Michael Bird (10:18):
Right. Now it is time for Today I Learned, the part of the show where we take a look at something that we think you should know about. And this week, Aubrey, I think it's one from you.
Aubrey Lovell (10:28):
It is, indeed. Thanks, Michael. And I've got exciting news for water-stressed communities around the world. Scientists in the US have developed a new method of solar power desalination that is turning saltwater into fresh water, which requires no batteries or outside power sources.
(10:45):
Pulling the salt out of water is a tricky business, which uses a lot of energy. And the most common way is to pass an electrical current through water in order to pull out salt ions. But that needs a constant supply of predictable power to run the pumps and the current at the right speed. And if it goes wrong, the system breaks down and water can be contaminated with the salt. And that means using a lot of batteries or a wired power supply.
(11:09):
Now researchers working out of a test site in New Mexico have devised a solar system that uses simple machine learning algorithms to measure the intensity of the sun every few seconds. And the system immediately adjusts the current and flow rate to always run just right, even in changing weather. In fact, they claim that 97% of the energy from the solar cells is used to generate water at any point, which is incredibly efficient.
(11:33):
It's hoped that this new tech will lead to clean water supplies for remote communities-
Aubrey Lovell (11:38):
... which is pretty cool.
Aubrey Lovell (11:38):
Okay, now it's time to return to Michael's interview with George Russell.
Michael Bird (11:40):
2026 ... regulation changes. Can you explain in basic terms...
Michael Bird (11:42):
... what those changes are going to be and potentially what the impact is going to be.
George Russell (11:46):
No. Basic terms, no, I'll do my best. The engines are going to be more sustainable. We're going to have 50% battery, 50%-
Michael Bird (11:59):
Oh, wow.
George Russell (12:00):
... internal combustion engine. We're going to have biofuel, so that's going to come into play. We currently use 100 kilograms of fuel in a race today. We'll be moving to 70 kilograms of fuel, so-
Michael Bird (12:17):
[inaudible 00:12:18].
George Russell (12:18):
... a big saving there. With the battery power, we will get up to our top speeds much quicker. And in qualifying, when you can utilize all of that battery, we're going to have really fast top speeds. But during a race, we're going to have to recharge the battery and be most efficient. So, you'll see us charging the battery down the straights. Sometimes you'll reach a top speed and then it will plateau, because that's when we start charging the battery to then deploy it out of the next corner.
(12:53):
I'd say in simple terms, that's the big change coming from the engine.
Michael Bird (12:57):
That's going to be quite interesting with on-track battles, I would've thought, if there's going to be some strategy around charging batteries. There is a bit at the moment, isn't there?
George Russell (13:03):
Yeah, there is.
Michael Bird (13:04):
But some strategy around that. How far ahead are you prepping? I'm presuming the team is already thinking about it, but are you starting to think about it? Is there going to be a different methodology as to how you're going to race? Are you starting to think about that all?
George Russell (13:16):
No, definitely working with the team in terms of car development and design. The regulations are still not 100% set in stone and you're not allowed to work on the cars-
Michael Bird (13:28):
Ah, okay.
George Russell (13:29):
... prior to January the 1st of next year. The engines have already been developed for, I think, probably two years now. The engines have been developed, the fuels are being developed. Everyone on that side is working incredibly hard and we're finding lots of gains at the moment. That's pretty exciting. Because Mercedes have had the best engine for the past 10 years now, so I'm hoping that continues.
Michael Bird (13:56):
You're hoping for a Mercedes '24 team.
George Russell (13:59):
That's the dream. That's definitely the dream. And the race cars, we know where we want to place it, but it's going to be a new race car again. It'll only be when the car drives for the first time, you can correlate the data back to the wind tunnel, back to the CFD, and all of those simulations that we're doing to then make further gains.
Michael Bird (14:24):
What lessons do you think our organizations can learn from the way F1 innovates and adapts? That's a bit of a mean question. Sorry.
George Russell (14:31):
Yeah, that's a tough one. What lesson? I think there's lessons everybody can learn from one another. Formula 1 is all about efficiencies, precision, quick turnarounds. When we develop a car, we're talking here and now, and we're trying to bring it to the next race. It's is a real high-tempoed environment that we are in dealing with the pressure, and the highs and the lows that we go through with competition.
(15:09):
Can other organizations learn from that? I'm sure, yes. I'm sure in some cases it's totally irrelevant and unrelated, but I always like personally looking into other athletes and seeing what they do to hone their skills. 90% is very specific to their sport, but that 10% just makes me think about a few things.
(15:36):
I'm sure that's the same way as when HPE comes to Formula 1 and we're working in partnership with Mercedes. This is very specific to Formula 1, but there's a few things here that we take. Because I know at least from our side, there's a lot we've taken from HPE with how they do things here.
Michael Bird (15:57):
Amazing. George, thank you so much for joining us.
George Russell (15:58):
Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
Michael Bird (15:59):
It's been an absolute pleasure.
Aubrey Lovell (16:01):
Thanks so much for bringing us that interview, Michael. Really, really cool. And thank you so much to George. You can find more on the topics discussed in today's episode in the show notes.
(16:12):
We're getting towards the end of the show, which means it's time for This Week In History, a look at monumental events in the world of business and technology which has changed our lives. Michael, what do you have for us today?
Michael Bird (16:24):
The clue last week was: It's 1945 and we are hooked on you. Did you get it? I certainly didn't, because it is the anniversary of the first ever helicopter rescue and the first ever use of a rescue winch.
(16:38):
The rescue was carried out on a grounded barge, which was sinking in the sea off Fairfield, Connecticut in a major storm. Whilst a lifeboat sent out hadn't been able to get to the stricken ship a mile offshore, fortunately there was a helicopter factory nearby and they just so happened to have an experimental winch fitted to one of their craft. How fortunate.
(17:00):
Whilst helicopters had landed for rescues before, this was the first real use of winches as a tool, and had only been hypothesized and experimented with before, and never in a storm. Fortunately, it all went well and a new era of emergency search and rescue was born. Pretty awesome.
Aubrey Lovell (17:22):
And the clue for next week: It's 1967 and 1982, surgeons put their hearts and souls into these procedures. We'll talk about that next time.
(17:32):
And that brings us to the end of Technology Now for this week. Thank you so much to our guest, George Russell, driver for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team. And to our listeners, as always, thank you so much for joining us.
Michael Bird (17:44):
Technology Now is hosted by Aubrey Lovell and myself, Michael Bird. This episode was produced by Sam Datta-Paulin with production support from Harry Morton, Zoe Anderson, Alicia Kempson-Taylor, Alison Paisley, Alyssa Mitry, and Camilla Patel.
Aubrey Lovell (17:57):
And our social editorial team is Rebecca Wissinger, Judy-Anne Goldman, Katie Guarino. And our social media designers are Alejandro Garcia, Carlos Alberto Suarez, and Ambar Maldonado.
Michael Bird (18:08):
Technology Now is a Lower Street production for Hewlett Packard Enterprise. And we'll see you at the same time, the same place, next week. Cheers.