What can IT learn from F1?

So i'm a great F1 fan - I love lots of parts about the sport and to be honest I can't quite rationalise some of these things; on the face of it, the industry makes a lot of noise and spends huge amounts of money making bits of metal and rubber go faster and faster round in circles. It makes millionaires, advertises banking, burns many gallons of fossil fuel and ultimately what do you achieve? Not a great deal .. i'm not even sure they can lay claim to non-stick frying pans or velcro like the space programme can.


But, nonetheless, I love it. And aside from the driving aspect (you may be interested to note that i'm that great undiscovered driving talent sitting in my armchair at home) i'm also hugely impressed by some of the attributes displayed by the teams:

• Professionalism
• Coping with deadlines
• Application of technology
• Focus
• Pride

These are amongst the top things I think we should aspire to. It's not particularly glamorous to be seen to take pride in a component you just created which calculates a price in an instant by getting smart about caching and applying only part of the algorithm client-side rather than using the server. But tell me what's glamorous about being able to wield an air-gun faster than another bloke to screw a nut onto a hub. But that's what the guys do in the pit-stops and they look pretty proud of it when their man goes out first.

How about the sheer focus and attention to detail these guys have when they know there is an absolute deadline to get a working, fast, reliable car on the grid on 14th June for the beginning of the Italian grand prix? I suspect the planning can never be detailed enough, no stone is left unturned, their teams need to know precisely who is responsible for the left air duct, and who is responsible for the right - simply because there is no room for error, no excuses, no last-minute option to run the car without brakes - no, it all has to be there.

And don't get me started on the innovation and use of technology. These people are experts - do you think the meeting with the aerodynamic team is particularly pleasant at the start of the season? Think that squeezing more downforce but less drag from a car under tightly controlled regulation against the risk of disqualification from rule violation is a particularly easy task? Think that 'sorry, you're just going to have to drive faster' is acceptable? I doubt it. They need to find innovation to survive - whether it means flexible aerofoils, ground effect skirts, redirected exhaust diffusers, hand-operated flaps - you name it, I expect they've checked the rulebook!

I'm in awe of these teams, and whilst I appreciate they operate with budgets we'd all be keen to have, don't forget that innovation, focus, pride and professionalism don't actually cost a thing.