Agile Development and Formula 1

The next release

After three months of waiting, the 2025 season of Formula 1 (or simply F1) racing kicks off in Australia this coming weekend. To most in the USA, that means nothing, but to many in Europe it means as much as the first week of the NFL (after pre-Season.)

This article is in no way an attempt to convert anyone to become an F1 fan or an expert in all the rules. By the time we reach the end here, you may understand some parts of it in a way you hadn't considered before.

Breaking it down

To compare this style of racing to Product Management, let's start with the components that we need in order to be successful.

Problem(s)

1. Cars that are inefficient, and not economically friendly. Obviously, it's got to be faster than the competition.

2. Boring races - other race styles just go in a circle (can we say "left turn only"?), or go long distances, making it somewhat dull for some spectators.

Solution

1. Believe it or not, F1 researches new technologies and figures out ways to be innovative for the commercial automotive industry. The teams make constant improvements, such as hybrid gas/electric power supply, all wheel drive, and many other innovations. The fuel efficiency and goal of Net Carbon Zero by 2030 isn't just for the racing world, but pushes for ways that our daily commute can save fuel and emissions, too.

2. No two tracks or races are the same, and races happen all around the world. Tracks have both left and right turns, wide turns, sharp turns, sometimes long straights that allow for passing, sometimes not. Some tracks are set courses that do nothing but host racing, some courses are on city streets that get closed down for an entire weekend from regular traffic, with portable seating and viewing areas set up. Some races are at night, but most are daytime. Each race weekend has qualifying practices, and the final starting lineup is based on racers best individual time during practice, so (in theory), it's possible that a different driver could end up starting in the front for each race.

Product

Pretty obvious, it's the Race Car. No need to bore you here, so let's move on.

Development Team

Like with software development, there are Designers, Engineers, Mechanics and Technicians who do all the building, testing, and delivering of the Product.

Stakeholders

There are sponsors to each individual team, who would be like shareholders. They want the Product to be successful (win races and entertain fans) so that they can make money on their investment.

There's also the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) the governing body of motor sport (more than just F1) and promotes safe, sustainable and accessible mobility for all road users across the world. They make the rules, and define what exactly the problems to solve should be (conceptually for our comparison exercise here), to keep the sport challenging, safe and entertaining.

Customer

The customer is the DRIVER. You read that right. Consider it. Who is using the Product? It's not anyone that builds it. For those unfamiliar with the sport, Drivers will try to be loyal to a brand, but if the Product or brand is not giving them what they want, they will switch to another brand with a Product that they believe will. Seem familiar?

Customer Success Team

This is the Pit Crew. They make sure that the Customer has everything they need in order to use the Product when it comes to fast, Tier 1 turn-around items. Granted, this analogy somewhat falls apart in the fact that during the race, the Driver isn't normally in communication with the people who are chasing the tires and doing quick, minor repairs, but again we're simplifying the analogy here, not trying to be perfect. In an extreme crash, where the Product is beyond repair for the duration of the race, a Solution Engineer or other Tier 3 support person would be necessary.

Product Manager

The closest thing to a Product Manager is called the Team Principal. Some may argue with me on this, or say that the F1 Team Principal is the CEO, but people call the Product Manager the CEO of the Product. Let's just go with it for argument's sake as an example, not a rule set in stone. Each team gives the role different responsibilities, which actually lines up with how PM's are treated in technology companies, too.

The Team Principal gets the requirements from the FIA Stakeholder and helps oversee the car design, but doesn't build it. They're the public face of the team. They attend meetings with stakeholders and other team leaders, needing always to be diplomatic and holding keen strategic business skills. They ensure that the development team has the resources they need. They communicate with the customer to make sure they are happy and not interested in going to a competitor. They trust each team to know their craft and do their part without micromanaging, and take responsibility for success and failure.

There's more, but for analogy sake, the comparison is sufficient, so, moving on.

Product Lifecycle

Something to consider is that each team has two Customers (Drivers). They must have the same Product configured to work for both. If they are different sizes, then the cockpit must be adaptable to accommodate their uniqueness. If their style of driving is slightly different, the Product needs to handle both, or the team needs a different customer if they can't be successful with the Product.

The 2025 F1 Season runs from mid-March thru early December. In those 39 weeks, there will be 24 races. Each of these races will be a "release", and the period between the releases, we can refer to as a "Sprint". Towards the end of one season, Designers and Engineers are already coming up with what the next model (v2026.0) will be.

Sometimes a Sprint is one week, sometimes two or three, but there's always travel involved, so the amount of repairs and upgrades possible is limited. (Not to mention that the FIA limits the amount of upgrades allowed, so that the playing field is fair amount all the teams - an organized sport isn't the same as a competitive market.)

Retrospectives! After each "Release", the entire team - Engineers, Customer Support, Product Manager, Customer, and (sometimes) Stakeholder(s) get together and go over what happened. What went well? What didn't go well? How can things be better? What can be avoided? Will the same plan, resources and actions work at the next event?

Conclusion

F1 began in 1946, but can trace its roots back to the 1920's, and it has been constantly evolving ever since. The cars look nothing like what they once were. They've gone from 124 mph 100 years ago to 231 mph today. Refueling no longer happens mid-race due to fire hazards.

Software products are very much the same. Once we think the technology has gone as far as it can, someone comes up with something improved.

Success doesn't happen over night, and failure one week doesn't mean down and out forever.

Then, in the end, someone needs to use what was created, and needs to find value from it.

But it takes a team. One person may be in charge, but everyone is responsible for their part. In the words of F1 driver Lewis Hamilton: “We win and lose together.”

I'm more of a fan of Formula E than I am Formula 1, because there's more strategy involved with the Electric version of the racing, but I didn't want to dive into the nuances of the other sport and over-explain. This was meant to be both entertaining as well as educational, so let me know if I accomplished either or both for you.