Panasonic-Toyota F1 team use ToughBooks at starting line

Darius Chang | Sep 26, 2008

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. In the F1 race, the extreme conditions on the track and at the pit will probably kill a standard consumer laptop. As such, the fully rugged ToughBook CF-19 laptops are issued by Panasonic to perform the car startup as well as on-track analysis. The reason this model is chosen was due to its exceptional hardiness as well as the fact that the touchscreen can be used with gloves. The long battery life doesn't hurt, either.

From left to right: Finalist Leong Yue Xuan; F1 driver Timo Glock; Finalist Goh Zheng Hui; Winner Beverly Tan.

From September 6 to 20, Panasonic held a contest which involved children aged seven to 12 shooting video clips on why they want to watch the F1 race. The winner will receive a pair of Paddock Club tickets for race day. During a media conference in the Singapore Panasonic office to announce the winners, we took the opportunity to ask the Japanese manufacturer two pressing questions. For one, unlike Lenovo which has an array of hardware from servers to laptops, Panasonic's PCs are limited to semi-rugged and fully rugged ToughBooks. So, how does the team get the firepower it needs for intensive work like simulation and post-race analysis. Turns out these backend processes are handled by another sponsor, EMC². This company specializes in creating IT infrastructure for enterprises by providing hardware and software for corporate clients. As there was no EMC² representative at the event, we were unable to obtain an answer as to which brand of servers and desktops are used by the F1 team.

Then there is a question of security. Only two Panasonic ToughBooks are in use by the engineers and these machines contain critical and sensitive data on the performance of the car and driver. Since ToughBooks are not equipped with security features other than a Trusted Platform Module chip that stores passwords and encryption data on the hardware, how does the team prevent data from being leaked out. According to Christopher Lim, manager for Panasonic Corporate Communications Group, these particular ToughBooks in use have been modified by EMC² to lock down the data and prevent information leaks should the machines be stolen or lost. However, he was unable to disclose the exact modifications made.

During the conference, he also explained how a combination of Panasonic's HD camcorders and Viera LCD TVs are used to capture the movement of the pit crew. This allows every minute action to be analyzed and streamlined to shave seconds off pitstop times. The F1 race may be exciting, but the vast amount of technical power required even before the car is at the starting line is just as amazing.

Filed under: Notebooks
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