How Scuderia Ferrari Uses IBM watsonx to Transform the Fan Experience
Scuderia Ferrari HP partnered with IBM Consulting to reimagine their mobile fan app using IBM watsonx AI, delivering AI-generated race summaries, personalized content, and interactive features that doubled daily active users and increased in-app engagement by 35%.
Impact
2x
Daily active users increase
35%
Average time spent in-app increase
396 million
Global fan base
16
Constructors Championships
15
Drivers Championships
Challenge
Ferrari needed to engage both legacy Tifosi fans and emerging digital-native supporters while preserving brand exclusivity. Their existing app lacked interactivity and personalization, and many new F1 fans lacked deep understanding of the sport, requiring enhanced educational and engagement opportunities.
Solution
IBM Consulting reimagined Ferrari's mobile fan app using IBM watsonx AI platform on a hybrid cloud architecture, delivering AI-generated race summaries from live telemetry data, personalized content, interactive race visualizations, and integrated commerce — all governed by AI brand protection.
Tools & Technologies
What Leaders Say
“This is the app that Ferrari fans deserve. Literally race day in your pocket.”
“The passion that Ferrari fans have for the brand, for Ferrari, for the history, is something very special to witness and you can definitely feel it every time you are in Italy or on a racing track.”
“We've had many new fans join us in the last couple of years, and not everyone comes in with a deep understanding of F1. It's important that we give them an opportunity to understand what we're doing.”
“We considered everything: what content users want, when they're most likely to engage, what mood they're in, what device they're on and where they are when they open the app.”
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Full Story
Scuderia Ferrari HP, the most successful team in Formula 1 history with 16 Constructors' Championships and 15 Drivers' Championships, faced a unique challenge in engaging its 396 million global fans. The team's legendary fan base, known as the Tifosi, spans multiple generations — from lifelong devotees to digitally native newcomers discovering F1 through social media and streaming platforms. Many new fans lacked deep understanding of the sport, while existing fans craved more interactive and personalized experiences beyond the team's editorial-focused app.
IBM Consulting partnered with Ferrari to completely reimagine their mobile app using IBM Design Thinking methodology and the full IBM watsonx AI platform. The solution combined IBM watsonx.data to unify data across racing, merchandise, and luxury car brand domains, while IBM watsonx.ai built generative AI models that produce dynamic race summaries by analyzing live telemetry and historical data. IBM Granite foundation models generated rich historical insights seamlessly embedded within race content.
The technical architecture leveraged a hybrid cloud approach incorporating AWS, Red Hat OpenShift, and serverless components. IBM Instana provided real-time monitoring for uptime and reliability, while IBM watsonx.governance protected Ferrari's brand identity by governing AI model outputs including conversational tone. IBM watsonx Code Assistant accelerated development cycles through AI-assisted coding.
The revamped app launched at the Miami Grand Prix in May 2025 with features including AI-generated race summaries with customizable tone, interactive fastest lap visualizations, lap-by-lap position tracking, tire strategy details, exclusive behind-the-scenes content, daily fan polls, and integrated merchandise access via Salesforce. The results were immediate — daily active users doubled and average time spent in-app increased by 35%, validating the AI-driven approach to fan engagement at the highest level of motorsport.
AWS