Red Bull uses Oracle AI agent to guide race strategy decisions

AI decision making at Milton Keynes

Red Bull uses an agentic artificial intelligence system that recommends specific actions to the team during a Grand Prix. Jack Harington, Red Bull head of technical and performance partnerships, said the team built the tool with title partner Oracle. The tool began as a search tool to help engineers interpret F1 regulations and past rulings before it became an agentic AI that draws on information to recommend actions during a race. "It’s actually making decisions for us," Harington said. This capability is part of a multi-year extension of the title partnership announced in February 2026. According to a press release, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Oracle AI underpin the 2026 debut of Red Bull Ford Powertrains’ next-generation hybrid power unit, advanced race-strategy simulations, and an AI-powered strategy agent. The decision-making capabilities of this system are effective for the team. The team relies on this technology to manage technical data and strategic simulations.

The Monza strategy instance

The utility of the AI agent became clear during the 2025 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Harington used the 2025 race to demonstrate how the AI agent works in practice. On the opening lap, Max Verstappen went off at the first chicane while fighting McLaren’s Lando Norris for the lead. Red Bull followed the AI agent’s instruction to hand the position back to Norris to avoid a penalty, even though the recommendation went against the team’s own view of the situation. By following the instruction, Verstappen escaped a penalty, retook the lead from the McLaren driver, and won the race by 19.2 seconds. Harington said that "Formula 1 is and will always be a human sport," but the agent provides support to the team. Other teams use AI tools for various purposes:

• Google works with McLaren to bring Gemini AI tools.
• Mercedes has a partnership with Microsoft.
• Ferrari works with IBM on AI-powered experiences for fans.