Earlier this year, George Russell won the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, edging out Max Verstappen by .228 seconds. A few weeks ago, during an International Motor Sports Association race in Watkins Glen, New York, the first place finisher crossed the checkered line on fumes just 1.8 seconds ahead of the second place finisher to win IMSA’s Six Hours at the Glen.
These finishes, down to the wire, illustrate the high stakes arena of elite motor sports. But in order to achieve glory, and hold that checkered flag, racers require vehicles that meet precise demands, down to every damper, bolt, screw, or sensor. This precision was the focus of Hexagon Live’s “Innovation at Speed’ panel held in Las Vegas on June 17, 2025.
The ‘Innovation at Speed’ panel featuring speakers (left to right): John Church of JDC-Miller Motorsports, Alba Colon of Hendrick Motorsports, Morgan Maia of Oracle Red Bull Racing, Scott Mansell of racing educational platform Driver61.Devon Verbsky
“Every hundredth of a second counts, which means that every one of the thousands of components has to be absolutely perfect and every component in that car has to be measured to micron-level precision,” said Scott Mansell, a British former racing driver, current founder of racing educational platform Driver61 and a speaker on the panel.
Race Prep with Red Bull Racing
The attention to detail was echoed by Morgan Maia, senior technical partnerships manager for Oracle Red Bull Racing, who broke down what it takes to prepare two cars for all 24 races throughout the year. The Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 team has delivered world championships for four consecutive drivers.
Maia explained that due to a schedule of weekly races that bounce from Australia to China to the U.S. and more, the team’s cars are always on the go. Because the cars are always on the move, those working on improving vehicle performance must do so without the vehicle ever being in front of them—and there isn’t time to make mistakes when a part is manufactured, shipped, installed, and raced in front of millions of fans in less than a week. Parts must be perfect, from spec to performance, as the driver’s life depends upon those 8,000 parts working together simultaneously.
Hexagon enables the successes of Oracle Red Bull Racing from assembly to podium. For example, using Hexagon scanners in the garage, Red Bull measures the setup of the cars to ensure success through challenges such as weather. Changing tire compounds, adjusting suspension and modifying brake bias are just a few examples.
Maia said the scanners provide a link between the simulated and real world. “With the scanner, we can check to make sure everything is perfectly placed. It helps us through our simulations, through estimation, and through setup with the engineers and mechanics, placing us precisely in tune once we hit the track,” he said.
Working down to the micron, tolerances are tight. The team even works within specific temperatures as a cold-start could cause an F1 engine to explode.
Maia said, “With the prototypes we run, we have the simulations running and driving all day, and sometimes all night. As we advance toward the weekend, we seek to find the best theoretical setup to meet driver specifications, race performance, and FIA ruling standards. But through this critical process, it’s important to be able to repeat what you are doing both in simulation and outside in real time. So, having Hexagon’s scanners in place to perform intricate calculations and setup, looking for ways to advance the car with full confidence through detail is amazing.”
Before and after races, the F1 team provides 3D CAD models to the International Automobile Federation (FIA). Hexagon’s platform has worked so well for Oracle Red Bull since 2012, that the FIA now picked up on doing just the same due to the leaps of precision and accuracy provided.
Precision, Consistency Lead to Legacy of Success
Switching lanes, JDC Motorsports Founder John Church took the stage, speaking for a team that’s won 18 championships, with 63 wins and 214 podiums across U.S. motorsports.
Competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the team primarily races a Porsche 963 GTP LMDh (Grand Touring Prototype). What separates IMSA is its endurance-type series, racing everything from short form 100-minute races, to 24-hour long races under the Daytona sky.
Church said, “Everything in sports, car racing or endurance racing, is about precision and consistency. We aim to build everything as consistently as possible. Sometimes we go through multiple body parts during a race weekend. It’s important that we build everything to spec so that each time we change a piece in and out, it’s always the same across all disciplines.”
In IMSA, each race requires a different set of technical parameters. With more than 30 years at the head of JDC, Church knows what it takes to level the racing processes and specifications. As soon as the car is unloaded at the track, the team goes straight to technical inspection. The car is physically scanned, top to bottom, within only 3 millimeters of deviation. The car is also scanned after it is assembled, before it even leaves the facility.
“The scan gets overlaid with datum scans to ensure we’re within spec, which we—most times—always are. If we have to make a change, we go back and disassemble to arrange the vehicle in the manner it should be,” Church said.
Tolerance within spec is paramount for JDC Motorsports. Church wants to push the envelope wherever possible, while ensuring the car won’t fall out of compliance with racing regulators. Working within spec provides a unique opportunity. If something must be replaced, the team can focus on the specific part. Within endurance racing, the focus is speed of repair, getting the car back on track, under spec, in a timely fashion.
“Damage is usually obvious outside of the scan,” Church said, “But the scan is helpful in case things have moved from weekend to weekend that we can take note of. Ultimately, it comes down to controlling as many variables as we can. That’s what racing is all about. Hexagon’s equipment allows us the guarantee of repeatability from one car to the next.”
The bottom line from both teams was a need for consistent, quality measurement. Each group echoed the importance of controlling the processes possible to come out on top week in and week out.
“The ability to ensure that quality gives us peace of mind that from one part to the next, our variables are being controlled, allowing us to stay on top of what we can,” Church said. “The focus on those variables can be put in the backseat with the help of Hexagon technologies.”