How Oracle Red Bull Racing locks down F1’s most valuable data

In Episode 2 of Securing the Win, 1Password’s docuseries with Oracle Red Bull Racing, Chief Security Officer Mark Hazelton revisits the $100 million Formula 1® data breach that changed the sport and reshaped the way teams approach secrets and security.

From the team’s headquarters in Milton Keynes, UK, Hazelton sits down with former Senior Engine Technician turned brand ambassador Calum Nicholas to offer a rare glimpse into how the team stays ahead of cyber risks, guards against insider threats, and protects its most valuable asset: information.

For 22 years, Hazelton has been the quiet constant behind one of Formula 1®’s most advanced and secure organizations. From inside Oracle Red Bull Racing, he’s watched the threat landscape shift from insider threats to the relentless pressure of digital risks.

Decades on the digital front line have taught him that in Formula 1®, data isn’t just valuable, it’s vulnerable.

“Even the strongest teams are only as secure as their weakest point of access,” Hazelton says.

This is a reminder that sometimes the greatest danger doesn’t come from the track; it comes from within. Through Hazelton’s story, Securing the Win exposes a new reality: the conquest for speed and access has made identity security into a race we are all running.

Security beyond the track

Racing has become a distributed digital enterprise. Oracle Red Bull Racing’s operation spans ten sites in the Milton Keynes campus and international race circuits. Each week, the team generates billions of data points from around the world that flow through engineering, aerodynamics, and performance divisions. For Hazelton, that scale transforms cybersecurity into a performance imperative.

“In Formula 1®, prevention is better than a cure,” Nicholas notes. “If you leave any room for something to go wrong, it will – and it will go wrong at the worst possible time.”

Hazelton’s team operates on the principle of zero trust, assuming every access request, system, and device must be verified before entry. The baselines, ISO 27001, CIS 18, and the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework, give the organization measurable standards to perform against – benchmarks that turn compliance into continuous improvement and push the team to refine and innovate with every season.

FIA governance and new data-access laws have driven the team to segment systems and tighten controls, fueling their evolution from open access to least privilege.

That evolution from implicit trust to continuous verification reflects the global move from perimeter-based security to an identity-driven standard. It’s a structure built as much for compliance as for competition, where fast, secure access outperforms rigid lockdowns in every race.

“If you leave your systems vulnerable, somebody’s going to come knocking,” Hazelton notes. “Twenty years ago, it might have been a prank; today it’s data theft or race disruption.”

Constant iteration drives Oracle Red Bull Racing’s approach to engineering and security. The team’s defenses are regularly stress-tested through vulnerability assessments, crisis simulations, and third-party exercises, a practice Hazelton says keeps them sharp and collaborative. “We don’t know what we don’t know,” he shares, underscoring the value of testing every system, securing every access point, and treating every credential as mission-critical.

Trust without friction

While zero trust underpins the philosophy, speed and usability drive the execution. Efficiency is paramount in Formula 1®, and even the smallest barriers can impugn performance. Hazelton understands that balance better than anyone.

As regulations evolve and new SaaS and AI tools appear, the team’s posture adapts in step. By pairing its zero trust discipline with 1Password’s Extended Access Management suite, Oracle Red Bull Racing maintains visibility and control across its expanding operations.

In practice, that flexibility turns policy into measurable performance gains:

• Centralized credential security: 1Password Enterprise Password Manager stores credentials and multifactor authentication in a central, auditable vault that scales across departments.
• Faster, safer sign-ins: The 1Password browser extension generates and autofills strong passwords instantly, eliminating manual steps and reducing risk from reused credentials.
• Shared vaults and permissions: Teams share the right access with the right people, maintain clear ownership, and rely on admin visibility and activity history for continuous oversight.
• Secure developer workflows: Engineers use developer-friendly item references in scripts and pipelines, eliminating plaintext secrets and simplifying key rotation.
• Managed SaaS governance: With Trelica by 1Password, the team identifies underused licenses and redundant applications, reclaiming spend that can be reinvested into car development under Formula 1®’s cost-cap regulations.

This unified approach mirrors an emerging identity fabric, where authentication, authorization, and SaaS management work together as a single layer of governance across hybrid environments.

Together, these controls serve one goal: helping people move quickly without compromising protection. In a sport where milliseconds matter, Oracle Red Bull Racing proves that when security works seamlessly, it becomes a competitive edge.

The race ahead

“We can’t afford to stand still. If you’re standing still, you’re going backward.” Hazelton knows the threat landscape never rests. His focus is now on the next frontier: AI, quantum computing, and the human factors that connect them. For Hazelton, resilience is about readiness, ensuring that no matter how technology evolves, people remain both the first and last line of defense.

That same mindset defines Oracle Red Bull Racing’s partnership with 1Password. Security safeguards speed. Behind every secure sign-in, protected secret, and reclaimed license is a marginal gain that compounds into performance.

On and off the track, the podium belongs to the people and teams that seamlessly integrate identity, automation, and continuous verification.

What began as a story of insider risk has evolved into a story of trust, earned daily through diligence and partnership. In the world’s fastest sport, as in modern business, the ability to move quickly and securely separates those who chase performance from those who define it.