A massive computer outage has affected the entire planet this Friday, when a failed content update for security platform CrowdStrike caused a Microsoft system crash. The crash led to flight cancellations, banking systems down, and even ESPN morning broadcasts of “SportsCenter” and “Get Up.”
The power outage also had an impact on the Formula One world.
Just as the first practice session was getting underway, CrowdStrike’s partner Mercedes was forced to manually fix its computer systems at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
CrowdStrike and Mercedes have been working together since 2019, with CrowdStrike branding appearing on the team’s cars as part of the deal and the security platform providing computer services to the team.
Mercedes started the Hungarian Grand Prix well after a good start in the first practice session, with George Russell setting the fourth fastest time in practice, and team-mate Lewis Hamilton in tenth place.
The Silver Arrows are currently the hottest team in Formula 1 after winning the last two race weekends in a row. Over the last four races, the team has scored more points than any other F1 team and will be hoping to keep that momentum going this weekend in Budapest.
And so far, not even a global outage seems to be slowing them down.
