FEATURE
Audi’ s ambition is clear: to compete at the highest level through engineering excellence, operational efficiency and relentless attention to detail. That ambition extends beyond the car itself to every system that supports the team. According to Stefano Battiston, Chief Commercial Officer, choosing partners is about shared values and a common approach to excellence.
NinjaOne’ s focus on performance and continuous improvement aligns closely with how Audi Revolut is building its F1 programme.
For NinjaOne, F1represents the ultimate test of precision and operational excellence. Supporting Audi Revolut’ s IT team means enabling speed, agility and confidence at every moment – qualities that are just as essential in IT operations as they are on track.
Thinking differently: Atlassian Williams and Anthropic’ s Claude
Perhaps the most intriguing partnership announced ahead of the new season belongs to the Atlassian Williams F1 Team, which has named Anthropic’ s AI model Claude as its Official Thinking Partner. In a sport entering one of the biggest regulatory changes in a generation, the ability to think clearly, creatively and rigorously may prove decisive.
Claude, Anthropic’ s frontier AI, will be integrated across the Williams organisation, working alongside engineers and team strategists to support race strategy, car development and operations. Unlike traditional analytics tools, Claude is positioned as a reasoning partner – helping teams analyse dense information, challenge assumptions and make clearer decisions under pressure.
Williams’ history makes the partnership particularly fitting. With nine Constructors’ Championships built on ingenuity and innovation, the team has long prided itself on finding performance through smart thinking rather than sheer scale.
As one of F1’ s last truly independent teams, that resourcefulness remains central to how it competes.
Williams finished fifth last season. Now, with clear ambition to move further up the grid, the team sees thoughtful AI as a force multiplier for elite human talent. Claude branding will appear on the FW48 cars and team kit from the 2026 season, signalling a multi-year commitment to exploring how frontier models can add value in high-stakes environments.
For Anthropic, Formula One represents a compelling showcase. The sport is ultimately about the pairing of human endeavour and technical excellence, and Williams’ reputation for punching above its weight aligns closely with Claude’ s design philosophy. As Andrew Stirk, Head of Brand Marketing, Anthropic, notes, Williams competes on the quality of its thinking and attention to detail – the same traits that drive Anthropic’ s work.
Technology as the new battleground
Taken together, these partnerships illustrate a broader truth about modern Formula One: technology strategy is now inseparable from sporting strategy. Whether it is intelligent data infrastructure, cyber resilience, unified IT operations or AI-augmented thinking, teams are investing heavily in the digital foundations that enable speed, reliability and insight. •
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