Riedel Communications, which has a long-standing relationship with Formula One, supplied the communications systems for the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, last month. Riedel provided the radio and intercom communications as well as international internet connectivity to all crew members, the organiser and the team players. “We supplied over 300 radios and […]
Riedel Communications, which has a long-standing relationship with Formula One, supplied the communications systems for the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, last month. Riedel provided the radio and intercom communications as well as international internet connectivity to all crew members, the organiser and the team players.
“We supplied over 300 radios and deployed nearly 80 Artist Digital Matrix intercoms, as well as 700 Artist 1000 series user keypanels, across the different areas of the Yas Marina circuit, between the race control area, the team areas and inside the garage,” explained Ahmed Magd El Din, Head of Riedels Dubai operations.
“The reason why our panels are so popular is because they are the only ones that are easy to use in direct sunlight. Nobody else at the moment has anything similar to offer.”
Riedel participates in all 19 F1 events each year and traditionally supplies up to 1500 radios each week, including broadcast links for RTL and others, as well as HD camera links for in-car cameras. The F1 project also requires the installation of a fibre infrastructure at the venue. “The required fibre infrastructure installed at the F1 racing circuit moves with the races to each of the 19 tracks around the world,” Magd El Din explained.
“We install the fibre infrastructure, use it, take it down and move on week after week. By installing our own fibre backbone, we are fully responsible for and in control of the infrastructure.”
An event such as F1 demands a high degree of redundancy. Riedels Artist intercom systems and Rocknet audio systems are combined onto a MediorNet backbone to build a complete broadcast infrastructure that can be completely managed remotely. Since it is a network, every signal is available at every node. As MediorNet is based on a fibre ring, even in the event that a fibre is cut or broken, the system can heal itself and re-route signals around the fault. The radio systems are then layered on top of Artist, for complete control over all communications.
“F1 drivers talk nearly 80% of the time while reaching speeds of more than 300 kph. These chats include sensitive driver-team feedback and telemetry for the ears and eyes of the race team and must be clear and understandable despite high noise levels. These are routed to pit lane and to the team HQ in the UK and/or Italy in order to make decisions in real-time,” said Magd El din.
Riedel added that improvements to its products are based on years of working with F1 and similar clients, and intimately understanding their requirements.
