Speed + technology + innovation + faster adaptation = high performance in engineering, all ultimately underpinned by intelligent decision making. These are all concepts we associate with Formula 1, but there is so much more that we perhaps don’t readily consider when we think of the top level of motorsport. For example, the terabytes of data that are generated by each car during a race and then processed and analysed by a team of engineers and data scientists to inform decisions around how to improve performance and gain an advantage over competitors who are all doing the same.

In this context, we talked to Mark Mathieson MBE, the founder of Purple Sector about his experience in F1 and more broadly in rapid delivery of engineering solutions on nationally significant projects such as the UK’s COVID Ventilator Challenge. The concept created by Purple Sector – Industrial Racecraft – has the potential to bring better connection and alignment into organisations, which is vital to improve the use of massive-scale data to speed up innovation and deliver intelligent decision advantage. 

And of course, we asked Mark for his thoughts on the new era of F1 that has launched in 2026 and what it tells us about technology and innovation, both within the sport and beyond.