Chequered flag for Tata Communications, too, at F1 German Grand Prix

When the last car zoomed past the finish line of the 150th Formula 1 German Grand Prix, celebrations began also for Tata Communications and its alliance with F1.

This year marks a milestone for both Formula 1 and Tata Communications. “While Formula 1 completed its 1000th Grand Prix, Tata Communications celebrated our 150th race at the German Grand Prix as the Official Connectivity Provider and Innovation Partner of Formula 1,” said Mehul Kapadia, Global Head of Marketing, Tata Communications.

The partnership with Formula 1 goes back to 2012, when Tata Communications entered the world of speed and race tracks.

Terming it a great achievement, Kapadia told BusinessLine it is a testament to how the company has grown over the years alongside the growing global F1 audience. An exacting lot, “F1 fans demand extremely engaging and customised experience through next-generation media platforms,” he said.

Hence, despite being broadcast live, with video feeds to 190 countries and over half a billion viewers watching every season, each race today is also consumed online.

Growing numbers

“Our constant efforts are to get the sport to more people, in more countries and more platforms,” said Kapadia. The company also hosts the official Formula 1 website, F1.com, which serves a whopping 44.2 million unique users and attracts up to 7 million users on a race weekend.

Alongside this, the official F1 app, which Tata Communications’ enables, has nearly 4 million unique users. Last season, the average number of unique users on F1.com and the F1 app was 11 per cent higher than in 2017, said Kapadia, with significantly more content being viewed on these platforms.

Noting that very few sports can boast a history as rich as Formula 1, Kapadia maintains it has evolved from the black and white footage of the previous era to today’s ultra-high definition multi-hued spectacle enjoyed by a global audience of around 1.3 billion people. Its association as the official connectivity partner of F1 has put Tata Communications in the fast lane.

Whether it’s hosting critical IT infrastructure, enabling remote operations or pioneering new broadcast technology, Tata Communications is ahead of the curve. In terms of security, too, the company is the main line of defence, staying hyper-vigilant against security threats.

The company’s integrated security framework provides F1 with threat management services, both trackside and remote. Its incident response and virtual unified threat management service helps F1 with the confidence to know it can fend off any attempts to overtake its digital infrastructure.

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