Cyber security in F1: McLaren and partner Darktrace explain crucial defences supporting Lando Norris’ title challenge

When considering the factors that have enabled McLaren to establish themselves as Formula 1’s leading team, cyber security is not the first thing that comes to mind.

The driving skills of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri or Andrea Stella’s leadership are probably top of most people’s lists, but there is so much more that goes into putting an F1 car on track.

One of those elements that has become more and more important in modern times, with developments in technology offering huge advances but also greater risks, is protecting the all-important systems that allow the spectacular cars to run as they do.

Dan Keyworth, McLaren’s director of business technology, says he considers a significant breach of the team’s cyber security to be as terminal as a car retiring from a race on a Sunday.

“Technology is increasing in sophistication, the approach to cyber criminals is increasing in sophistication,” he told Sky Sports News.

“So therefore, whatever we kind of build up as our base cyber operations and technology, actually we’ve got to keep moving and keep developing.

“It’s certainly a large part of my role, particularly around information security and cyber security and how we protect the team, because if you have a big moment in the world of cyber, it’s almost like a DNF on a race weekend, so you really want to prevent that.”

McLaren are absolutely flying on track, with their brilliant speed over the summer having taken them above Red Bull at the top of the Constructors’ Championship and provided Norris with a chance of chasing down Max Verstappen for the drivers’ title.

A factor in McLaren’s success – and could prove crucial during the final six rounds of the season – has been their near-perfect reliability, with neither Norris nor Piastri having had to retire from a grand prix this season for technical reasons.

Keyworth says that the team’s IT department approach their responsibility in the same way those working directly on the car, with a pro-active approach crucial to success.

“It’s all about proactively managing things like near misses and all things that can create unreliability and concern in the cyberspace,” he said. “It’s no different to a race car.

“Those are all the little things that people don’t see that you’re managing proactively in order to get the car on the track.

“So, it’s quite clear, the linkage between how we do both. There’s a huge amount of focus on it.”

How do McLaren stay protected?

McLaren’s confidence in defending their technology is bolstered by their use of Darktrace, who have been their official AI cyber security partner since 2020.

While many partnerships F1 teams are involved in are more for commercial than practical purposes, this is one that would appear to be crucial to the day-to-day running of the team.

Darktrace vice-president of cyber intelligence Karim Benslimane explained to Sky Sports how perceptions of cyber security have changed in the last decade or so.

“More than 10 years back it was like a Hollywood movie when we started to talk about cyber risk, ‘blah, blah, blah’, people were a little bit sceptical,” he said. “But now in 2024 everyone understands that cybercriminals are advanced, and that attacks can cause a lot of disruption.”

So how do Darktrace protect McLaren?

“The foundation is that we have a fantastic technology,” Benslimane says.

“Any kind of threat, whether it’s outside or inside, the AI doesn’t sleep. 24-7, the AI will be able to flag abnormalities. Starting from that, if the confidence of the AI is high enough, the AI can trigger action autonomously, or just send notifications to the cyber security team. The key point is that it’s proactive.

“You cannot fight what you cannot see. If you don’t see something, it’s most of the time too late, and you cannot control what you ignore. From a Darktrace perspective, there is no longer a blind spot. We are able, as long as we get the traffic and the connection from the system, we are able to see, understand and stop everything in seconds. This is the beauty of the technology.”

Who would want to attack an F1 team?

While F1 fans tune in to watch races on a Sunday, the battle is predominantly played out in the team’s factories as they spend months and sometimes years building future cars.

Spying wouldn’t be new to Formula 1, but Keyworth says fear of other teams trying to hack into McLaren’s systems is not a significant one.

“The general threat is of an external nature,” he says. “I think the sport has a common interest in protecting itself from cyber events because we all have an interest to go racing every weekend, and race fairly.

“Therefore, we have the best interests for other teams as well, to make sure that they are equally protecting themselves and equally protecting F1 so that we can get all the cars on the track.”

There are two major types of threat that most F1 teams would prepare for, the first being the use of ransomware, which would see a criminal group demand money to allow an organisation to get back into their systems.

“They know that F1 means money,” Benslimane says. “Because F1 is so deeply linked with technology, if you are not able to boot your system, you are obviously in trouble before, during or after a race from a brand reputation perspective.

“The second one is because of geopolitics, a combination between activist and cyber-terrorism.

“When McLaren win a race you have the British flag behind, and because of that and the conflict in the world, some people could be motivated to target not directly McLaren, but all the British interest.”

‘Technology at the epicentre of McLaren’

The turnaround Stella has overseen at McLaren cannot be overstated, with the team having gone from the back of the grid at the start of 2023 shortly after he took over, to the very front in little more than a year.

The Italian’s honest and straightforward style of leadership has won him much praise, and there are clues to be taken away from Keyworth’s insight as to why the team is operating at such a high level.

“The culture within McLaren is very inclusive,” he says. “I feel like our team contribute a huge amount to a race weekend and our ability to put the car on track.

“Andrea Stella’s leadership style is very much that you put a pound on the car, you put a pound on tools and methodology, and technology falls within that tools and methodology category.

“I think it has raised people’s awareness and importance that you can’t just invest in the car, you’ve got to invest in your people, and you’ve got to invest in the things that allow us to deploy the car and people best.”

Darktrace, meanwhile, are enjoying being able to watch their work translate into palpable success on a weekly basis.

“The relationship is fantastic,” Benslimane says. “We know all the McLaren team. It’s like a fantastic wedding. We have a fantastic relationship.

“Most of the time for cyber security guys like me, you don’t get to see what you did during months and weeks. In this partnership, it’s fantastic because when the McLaren team perform, you see it.”

Just six races remain in Formula 1 2024 and the season resumes with the United States Grand Prix in Austin from October 18-20, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime