When Ferrari sends the SF-26 out of the garage at Sepang, the car itself represents only the visible part of a much larger operation. Behind every lap sits an infrastructure of electrical power, cooling, connectivity, data systems and emergency procedures that must continue working without interruption throughout the Formula 1 weekend.
That hidden technological race takes on particular importance in Malaysia, where Formula 1 is returning to Sepang after almost a decade. The circuit presents a challenge not only for the car and tyres, but also for the systems supporting the entire Ferrari operation in conditions defined by high temperatures, heavy humidity and the possibility of tropical rain.
Ferrari returns to Sepang with a completely different technological environment
The return of Formula 1 to Sepang does not simply mean reopening a garage at a circuit teams already know. According to Paolo Castellani, Ferrari’s ICT, or Information and Communication Technology, Track Engineer, the technological environment surrounding Formula 1 has changed enormously during the years the championship has been away.
“Almost ten years of absence is a very long time in a sector like ours, which has experienced continuous technological growth, made even faster in recent years by the arrival of artificial intelligence and the evolution of systems supporting Formula 1,” Paolo Castellani explained to Ferrari’s official website.
The key challenge is therefore not merely returning to a familiar venue. Ferrari has to rebuild the entire technical organisation around standards, hardware and working methods that have evolved substantially since Formula 1 last raced at Sepang.
From the Ferrari garage network to real-time data management
Preparation for a Grand Prix begins long before the race team arrives at the circuit. A modern Formula 1 garage effectively operates as a highly sophisticated technological environment in which almost every system depends directly or indirectly on the reliability of the underlying infrastructure.
The SF-26 continuously generates information while running. Those data streams must be acquired, transferred and processed, while Ferrari engineers need uninterrupted access to the systems that allow them to analyse the car and make decisions during sessions.
“Despite this, the key to ensuring operational efficiency always remains the same: careful planning in the months leading up to the event,” Paolo Castellani explained.
It is a principle that underlines an important aspect of modern Formula 1. No matter how sophisticated the software or data-processing systems become, they are of limited use if the physical infrastructure supporting them is inadequate.
Before Ferrari can concentrate on the computer systems themselves, the team must therefore ensure that the environment in which those systems will operate is suitable.
“It is essential to make sure that adequate spaces are available and that the necessary electrical power and cooling capacity are guaranteed,” the Ferrari engineer added.
Why electricity and cooling matter to the SF-26 operation
Electrical supply and cooling capacity may appear far removed from the outright performance of the SF-26, but both are fundamental to Ferrari’s ability to operate the car throughout a Grand Prix weekend. Electricity powers the technological infrastructure, while cooling allows servers, network equipment and other electronic systems to remain within acceptable operating temperatures.
This becomes especially important in Formula 1 because data collection and processing form an integral part of sporting performance. A car may be competitive on the circuit, but if the infrastructure needed to acquire, transfer and analyse information becomes unreliable, a significant part of the team’s operational capability can be compromised.
Ferrari’s wider technical work around its Formula 1 project can also be followed through the site’s Ferrari technical analysis coverage, where the interaction between the car, systems and engineering operation is explored in greater detail.
Sepang does at least provide a strong foundation from an infrastructure perspective. Paolo Castellani pointed out that the Malaysian venue regularly hosts major international events, including MotoGP and high-level GT racing.
“It is a facility that regularly hosts international events such as MotoGP and high-profile Gran Turismo competitions, and it is very well managed and maintained,” he explained.
That reduces some of the uncertainty for Ferrari despite Formula 1 having been absent from the circuit for such a long period.
Sepang heat turns cooling into part of Ferrari’s race operation
The second major challenge comes from the Malaysian environment itself. Sepang is one of the venues where weather conditions can quickly become an important operational factor, affecting much more than drivers and cars.
High temperatures, extreme humidity and the possibility of intense tropical rain also put Ferrari’s technological systems under significant stress.
“Together with Singapore, Sepang probably represents the most demanding climatic challenge on the calendar,” Paolo Castellani explained. “High temperatures, very high humidity and possible heavy rain require specific measures to ensure that all systems can operate under the expected conditions.”
For Ferrari’s ICT operation, that means carefully controlling the thermal load around the equipment. Servers, network hardware, electronic systems and the devices used by engineers all generate heat while operating, and they must remain stable even when the surrounding environment is already extremely demanding.
This makes correct cooling capacity an essential part of preparation rather than a secondary concern.
“It is necessary to have appropriately sized cooling systems, which in turn require a considerable availability of electrical power,” the Ferrari ICT engineer added.
Ferrari prepares emergency systems for cooling failures
The relationship between temperature, cooling and electrical supply is therefore direct. If one part of that chain becomes inadequate, the reliability of the wider infrastructure can come under pressure.
In Formula 1, infrastructure reliability is not simply about avoiding a complete failure. It is also about preventing even a temporary interruption at a moment when engineers need immediate access to information from the car.
A network outage, power-supply problem or overheating equipment could interfere with tasks that have to be performed in real time during track sessions. Ferrari therefore prepares backup procedures for situations in which parts of the infrastructure stop operating as planned.
“We always prepare emergency procedures to manage any problems with the cooling systems, ensuring sufficient ventilation and heat dissipation to keep essential systems operational,” Paolo Castellani explained.
The objective is to design the system not only around normal operation, but also around the possibility that something could fail during the weekend.
The technology behind Ferrari can no longer afford to stop
That dependence on technology has fundamentally changed the nature of a modern Formula 1 garage.
“In modern Formula 1, garage activities increasingly depend on the reliability of the IT infrastructure,” Paolo Castellani stressed.
The garage is no longer simply the physical location where mechanics prepare and repair the car. It has become an operational hub linking the SF-26, engineers and digital systems in a continuous flow of information.
That evolution can also be understood through Paolo Castellani’s own career, which began during a very different technological period.
“It was 1997 and many companies, including Ferrari, were entering a new technological era,” he recalled.
At that time, laptops, email and mobile connectivity were only beginning to transform working practices. Bringing technology to Formula 1 circuits around the world therefore presented challenges that would appear almost unrecognisable today.
“There was no real global network and operating in distant countries such as Australia, Malaysia or Brazil often meant facing difficulties that seem unimaginable today, even when simply making a phone call,” Paolo Castellani explained.
Sepang highlights how much Formula 1 technology has changed
Modern Formula 1 now travels with a vastly more sophisticated digital ecosystem. The volume of information available to engineers and the speed at which teams can use it have reached a level that would have been unimaginable at the end of the 1990s.
That is precisely what makes Ferrari’s return to Malaysia so interesting. Sepang itself is the circuit Formula 1 remembers from the past, but the technology arriving in the paddock is completely different.
The weekend therefore becomes a test not only for the SF-26 but also for the organisation supporting it. The wider demands of the venue, from weather conditions to tyre behaviour, form part of the broader challenge facing Ferrari on its return to Malaysia, with the Sepang tyre characteristics creating another important technical variable.
Paolo Castellani views that technological transformation through almost three decades spent working with Ferrari.
“It was precisely these challenges, experienced together with the Ferrari team, that fuelled my enthusiasm and my sense of belonging,” he explained. “After almost thirty years, the pride of being part of the Scuderia is the same as it was then, as is the satisfaction of having contributed to putting the cars on track every weekend and sharing some of the finest moments in the team’s history.”
The invisible Ferrari machine behind every SF-26 lap
Ferrari therefore heads into Sepang facing a circuit that is effectively new to the current Formula 1 generation, extremely demanding climatic conditions and an environment where thermal management and ICT reliability become an integral part of the race operation.
The SF-26 will naturally remain the focus when the car is on track, but behind every lap another machine will continue working out of sight. It is built from data, electrical power, cooling, communications and computing systems, all of which have one essential task: to remain operational without interruption.
With Formula 1’s 2026 calendar taking the championship back to Sepang after such a long absence, Ferrari’s Malaysian challenge is therefore not confined to finding performance from the car itself. Keeping the entire invisible structure behind the SF-26 running may be just as fundamental to executing a successful weekend.
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