Earlier this year, Hexagon announced an expansion of its partnership with Formula 1 team Oracle Red Bull Racing (ORBR) through a multi-year deal. For the past 18 years, Hexagon has provided the team with a variety of 3D scanning, metrology, and digitalisation solutions to help it gain a competitive edge over the rest of the F1 field.
Following the announcement, Manufacturing Quality had the opportunity to ask Alexander Aime, VP of Global Marketing at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, a series of questions. Aime provided further information regarding the lessons Hexagon has learned during the partnership, whether the partnership has directly influenced Hexagon’s solutions, and how Hexagon will support ORBR with the sport’s 2026 regulation changes.
RT: Congratulations on the partnership renewal. In the 18 years Hexagon has worked with Red Bull, are there any key lessons that Hexagon has learnt by watching its solutions used in the motorsport series?
AA: The need for constant innovation is the one key lesson you learn from two decades of close collaboration with a team operating under intense competitive pressure at the pinnacle of the world’s most technologically advanced sport. The Oracle Red Bull Racing (ORBR) car undergoes 20,000 design changes every season, which has accelerated the pace of R&D innovation in the 3D laser scanning and digitalisation that Hexagon provides.
In Formula 1, every millisecond matters – and sustained success depends on the ability to innovate at high speed. Within the limits of the rules and the technology, the team is always pushing the boundaries of what is possible. The aim is to be as close to the right side of that boundary as physically possible. While the racing team constantly searches for a competitive advantage in every conceivable way, Hexagon technology not only has to adapt rapidly but also constantly anticipate what it will need next.
RT: Following on from the previous question, have any of Hexagon’s solutions been directly influenced by its partnership with Red Bull (for example, any improvements or upgrades with any of the technology the racing team uses)?
AA: The engineering team’s mantra is “Quality at speed”. One of the challenges ORBR had was scanning the surface of its composite parts. It took too long with previous laser scanning technology, despite the device acquiring 200 points per second, and the data was not always complete due to reflection. These parts are very important to the aerodynamics of the car, but they are painted and shiny, which means they could not get consistently good data to validate that they were manufactured to the precise tolerances required. Driven by feedback about our previous 3D laser scanners, we implemented a highly innovative new technology aptly named SHINE or “Systematic High-Intelligence Noise Elimination”, which makes it possible to perform high-speed 3D scanning at 1.2 million points per second without scanning performance degradation on any surface, whatever the finish or material.
Furthermore, Hexagon made it possible to disconnect the AS1 from the articulated measuring arm that is used to provide a position reference (x,y,z) when scanning a smaller component on a workbench and use it to perform handheld scanning anywhere around the car as it is assembled, then shipped out to races. This is made possible by a second laser device called a laser tracker that is mounted on a tripod (it looks like a CCTV on a camera tripod) and tracks the exact position of the AS1 laser scanner in the operator’s hand, and you can see this marriage of technologies at work before every race today.
RT: Throughout your almost 20 years working together, what Hexagon solutions stand out as being the biggest game changers for the racing team?
AA: Hyper-precision is critical to winning the F1 development race. The speed at which Hexagon’s metrology technology captures data ensures ORBR maintains its competitive edge both on and off the track, providing the trusted insights needed for rapid development.
Before the partnership with Hexagon, measurement in the ORBR pit lane and right across Formula 1 was a manual and static process, which involved traditional metrology blocks. These set-ups were time-consuming, less flexible and lacked the precision that Hexagon’s advanced metrology solutions deliver.
ORBR was the first team to bring Hexagon laser tracker technology into the pit lane, which has completely transformed how real-time, high-accuracy measurements influence decisions at the track. Hexagon’s portable laser trackers and 3D scanning systems enabled ORBR to measure what they had never been able to measure before. The FIA has also adopted the same Hexagon hardware, reinforcing trust in the data and ensuring that compliance checks are consistent and reliable across the sport.
RT: This partnership extension will mean that Hexagon will be working with Red Bull when the new 2026 regulations come into effect. Is the team utilising Hexagon’s technology in any new ways with the new car regulations in mind, compared to what they are used to?
AA: The 2026 FIA regulations are very significant, especially in sustainability, as cars will require less fuel and more electrical output. In response, ORBR has formed a dedicated team for building its own powertrain engine for the first time, and Hexagon’s role is critical to the rapid progress of this project.
ORBR went from concept to delivery in less than six months – an impressive achievement given that powertrains comprise around 5,000 dynamically-moving components. All parts must work together seamlessly, with ultimate precision, to push the car to its peak performance.
Hexagon tools provide the ORBR engineering team with the ability to select and build the most accurate powertrain through the use of integrated software in the assembly process. This capability also enables them to adapt swiftly and efficiently to the emerging regulatory changes that are a feature of almost every season.
The Formula 1 cap on expenditure within FIA rules is one of the most far-reaching, compelling teams to keep costs down. This cap, which currently rests at €128 million, leaves little room for mistakes and means ORBR must drive towards even higher levels of efficiency. But Hexagon’s technology ensures the team is fully confident about tolerances and measurements before the car undergoes FIA inspections for safety and technical standards.
RT: In the press release for the partnership renewal, it says that Hexagon has helped Red Bull Racing reduce faults by 50%. In what key areas did Hexagon’s technologies help improve quality levels?
AA: In F1, the race starts when cars are designed, built and tested. The integration of Hexagon’s high-precision inspection metrology and digitalisation into ORBR’s complex engineering processes has transformed the quality and accuracy of new parts designed at the cutting-edge of innovation.
Hexagon’s software gives ORBR the power to measure, simulate and analyse every component and system, halving on-track faults. Every component is manufactured to the level required the first time, which has accelerated the production of each new car. Faster car production increases testing time, and in F1, that is a major element in success on the track.
Hexagon’s support continues at trackside too, helping maximise performance through 3D laser scanning technology. This is crucial to refining aerodynamics and ensuring precision set-ups that propel the team to the front of the grid.
For each race, the ORBR team has to strip the car down to 8,000 parts for transport and then reassemble it, with many parts substituted from car to car, race to race. They use Hexagon metrology equipment and scanners to ensure reassembly is perfect and that any replaced parts are exactly as required. Because ORBR has embedded Hexagon inspections into its manufacturing processes, it knows parts are the right quality every time, which is what has made a huge difference.