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-------------------------------------------------------------- This story was printed from ZDNet Australia. --------------------------------------------------------------
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Photos: Lenovo drives F1 team By Munir Kotadia and Luke Anderson, ZDNet Australia March 13, 2007 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/hardware/laptops/soa/Photos-Lenovo-drives-F1-team/0,2000065761,339274216,00.htm
En route to Melbourne this weekend, Formula 1 team AT&T Williams' lead driver Nico Rosberg hopes to power ahead this season, thanks to a new sponsorship arrangement with Lenovo. He met the press in Sydney today to discuss the deal. Lenovo PCs handle some of the team's trackside technical requirements: telemetry data, recorded during a race at the rate of 1GB per hour, is downloaded to a PC at the end of each race for review by the drivers and team. 
Lenovo CEO and general manager for ANZ, Alan Munro (left), and Rosberg discuss the new relationship, first announced on February 3. Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia 
The 2007 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix, on this weekend in Melbourne, will be the first race since Lenovo's sponsorship agreement. Credit: AT&T Williams 
The team relies heavily on technology, using approximately 130 notebooks and 270 desktops -- a combination of new Lenovo machines and existing equipment from previous technology partner, Hewlett-Packard. The team currently uses around 20 Lenovo Thinkpad T60s and plans to replace existing PCs and servers with Lenovo machines. Credit: AT&T Williams 
Rosberg doesn't consider himself to be a nerd, and claims that he doesn't use the Internet much ... other than for e-mail, MSN, Facebook and some F1-related Web sites. Credit: AT&T Williams 
Security plays a very important part in racetrack communications. Data is constantly relayed between cars and the team wirelessly during a race. Even Rosberg can't access the Web at times due to security restrictions. These limits also apply to radio communications. Code words are used to describe crucial information. For example, fuel levels are relayed as "fuel level A" and "fuel level B". Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia 
Team computers process, on average, over 7TB of data each season. This equates to over 1TB for each race car. Telemetry data, recorded during a race at the rate of 1GB per hour, is downloaded to a PC at the end of each race for review by the drivers and team. Credit: Munir Kotadia/ZDNet Australia 
There are approximately two miles (3.22km) of cabling in each F1 car, although Rosberg said he doesn't know how they manage to fit it all in! Credit: Munir Kotadia/ZDNet Australia 
Before the car is started data from the engine and car is downloaded to a notebook, according to Lenovo. If an engineer determines that all parameters are within limits, a spark is then applied and the engine started. Using a PC prevents damage to the car during the start-up process. If the engine is started without appropriate oil pressure, for example, the engine is ruined and the bearings won't survive. Credit: Munir Kotadia/ZDNet Australia
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