SAP becomes official partner of Mercedes until 2024
SAP is a German company that designs and sells software, including management and maintenance systems. It has just signed a multi-year agreement with Mercedes, starting in 2024.
“After Whatsapp, Mercedes announces SAP. The IT solutions company has already had a long involvement with McLaren between 1997 and 2020 and witnessed the company’s involvement in Mika Hakkinen’s F1 World Championship titles in 1998 and 1999, and Lewis Hamilton’s in 2008. The company also supported the now-defunct Mercedes Formula E team as part of an agreement that started in 2018.”
Although she has not yet concluded a commercial agreement, the Mercedes F1 team has been a client of SAP for some time. However, the new partnership will give the German team access to innovations that will be tested before being used more widely.
Mercedes stated that SAP would contribute to improving operational efficiency, especially in the context of cost containment and the additional levels of complexity that the FIA’s financial regulations have added to managing an F1 team.
SAP will help notably in exploring how artificial intelligence and SAP’s cloud solutions can inform and predict decisions, optimize resources, and sustain their IT infrastructure.
Regarding the specific challenges of cost containment, the AI capabilities of SAP will enable the team to « forecast costs, predict final budgetary needs, and optimize both the supply chain and stocked items accordingly ».
“We have a shared heritage and a commitment to innovation and improvement that will significantly contribute to our on-track performance,” said Toto Wolff, team principal, about the new partnership. “SAP is a global leader in its field, and we couldn’t imagine a better partner to help us enhance our efficiency in 2024 and beyond.”
Richard Sanders, commercial director of Mercedes F1, added: “SAP has a long history of brilliant partnerships with some of the best teams and leagues in high-level sports. We are proud to be the latest ones to join forces with one of the leading global companies.”
Julia White, Director of Marketing and Solutions at SAP and board member, emphasized that F1 was the perfect environment for the company. F1 is one of the most technologically innovative sports in the world, where advancements yield significant results.
Given the extreme conditions in which F1 teams operate, motorsport provides a global platform to showcase engineering skills and excellence. But beyond the performance on race day, a lot is happening behind the scenes.
