Aston Martin Aramco signs cybersecurity deal with Zscaler

Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team has signed a multi-year partnership with Zscaler, naming the company its Global Cybersecurity Partner.

The team will use Zscaler's Zero Trust Exchange platform to protect systems and data across its operations, including car design, race strategy, and information moving between the track and its UK technology centre.

The deal reflects the growing importance of cybersecurity in a sport that depends on constant data flows during race weekends. Formula One teams collect and analyse large volumes of telemetry from their cars, while engineers and operational staff work across different locations and time zones.

According to the companies, a single race weekend can generate more than a terabyte of telemetry from hundreds of sensors on each car. That data informs decisions on set-up, reliability, race strategy, and operational planning, making secure access a core issue for teams.

Zscaler said its system will create direct connections between the race team and applications without exposing the wider network to attackers. Aston Martin Aramco said the arrangement is designed to reduce cyber risk while supporting real-time access to engineering and operational information.

Data security

Cybersecurity has become a more visible concern in elite sport as teams rely on remote collaboration, cloud-based tools, and live data analysis. In Formula One, where performance margins are measured in fractions of a second, disruption to communications or unauthorised access to sensitive data can have immediate operational consequences.

The partnership also gives Zscaler branding on the AMR26 car and the drivers' overalls, including the nose, seatbelts, and wing mirrors.

Jefferson Slack, Managing Director, Commercial and Marketing, Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team, said: "We're pleased to welcome Zscaler to our team as a Global Cybersecurity Partner. This partnership brings together two organisations invested in performance in highly demanding environments. Zscaler's belief in our long-term vision both on and off track reflects the momentum we are continuing to build across our business. Partnerships like this play an important role in supporting the future of our organisation and strengthening the technology ecosystem around the team."

The agreement links a Formula One team preparing for a new technical era with a cybersecurity company that says it works with more than 45% of the Fortune 500. For Aston Martin Aramco, the deal is part of a broader expansion of technical and commercial relationships as it develops its factory operation.

Wider context

Aston Martin returned to Formula One in its current form in 2021 under the ownership of Lawrence Stroll. The team is now moving through a broader transition as it becomes a full works operation, with Honda set to supply power units under the next regulations.

That transition increases the importance of the systems that support design, simulation, manufacturing, and race operations. Modern Formula One organisations operate as continuous engineering businesses, with trackside decisions often linked in real time to analysis at headquarters.

Zscaler framed the partnership around the speed and intensity of that environment, arguing that the needs of a Formula One team mirror those of organisations securing distributed operations against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.

Sunil Frida, CMO, Zscaler, said: "Formula One is where the future of enterprise technology gets tested at 300 km/h. Every car is a mobile data centre, every race is a global, distributed operation, and every millisecond counts. In an era where threats move at machine speed, defending against attackers requires advanced AI. That's exactly the world Zscaler was built for. We're proud to provide the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team with the AI-driven security, speed, and resilience that modern sport demands."

The deal highlights how cybersecurity suppliers are seeking a larger role in top-level sport as teams become more dependent on secure, low-latency access to data. In Formula One, where competitive advantage often rests on information as much as mechanical performance, those commercial relationships are increasingly becoming part of the team's technical infrastructure.