ABSTRACT: In this talk, I will present my experience working with a Formula 1 team as a Software Development Engineer. I will introduce you to the kind of software used in Formula 1, focusing in particular on the aspects I worked on specifically, and how I approached them. The goal of this talk is to give you a glimpse of what it is like to build software for Formula 1 and stimulate your curiosity. BIO: I am Lorenzo Dematté, and I am a Senior SDE. After getting my PhD in bioinformatics, I worked for some years in technology transfer, before steering from academia to industry. There I designed and delivered full-stack solutions for public transport in the Alto Adige region, including electronic ticketing, fleet management, billing, also moving gradually and naturally into a Development Manager role. But my passion for software was too great, so I moved back to an individual contributor role, as a Senior SDE for Ferrari. Since last year I embarked on a new exciting adventure with Amazon International Technology. In my free time, I love hiking, working on cars, and on DIY projects in general.

1. Software Development at
Formula 1 pace
Lorenzo Dematté

2. Who am I and What I do (did)

3. Formula 1? Which team?
Disclaimer: everything you will see in the slides
or I will say in the talk reflect only my limited,
personal experience and in no ways reflect the
opinions of the Team.

4. Speaking of success in Formula 1…
How cool is that we have … ehm… a Trento Doc on the podium?

5. Second disclaimer
• This will be an unusual presentation
– The one you saw will probably be the last pictures
– I don’t like bullet points, but just talk
– I am sure I will upset the organizers because I like
to interact and ask questions
• They loooove it when there are microphones J

6. What is Formula 1?

8. What kind of software is used in
Formula 1?

9. © Getty Images

12. Vehicle Dynamics and Simulation
Telemetry

13. Why telemetry is important?
Design Diagnostic Feedback

14. F1 Telemetry systems
Again, this picture reflects only my experience and (incomplete) knowledge

15. Telemetry platform
Again, this picture reflects only my experience and (incomplete) knowledge
Storage Live Compute
Sim
V Strategy

16. What is it like to build software for
Formula 1?

17. Errors exist

18. Dealing with errors
• Systems
– Redundancy, fail-over, etc.
• Process
– Tests
– Automated tests
– "Soft straps" (feature flags)
– Failure recovery
– Rollbacks
– Oncall
– Coding practices

19. Coding for correctness

20. Coding for change
*When* I need to come back and change this, how am I going to do it?

21. What fits and what not?
Up à You see good (SD)E practices applied to
non-software
Mid à Dev cycle misalignment
Down à You see bad (SD)E practices applied to
non-software

22. How was my experience?
• The good
– it is a sport: competition, thrill, victories and
results.
• The bad
– it's a sport:
• uncertainty, year over year
• regulations

25. Thank you!