Scuderia Ferrari HP and IBM have partnered to rebuild the Ferrari fan app using artificial intelligence, with the goal of delivering personalized content and deeper engagement to a rapidly growing global fanbase. The partnership, reported in May 2026, centers on transforming the app from a basic race-information hub into a year-round fan destination.
IBM’s Vice President of Sports and Entertainment Partnerships, Kameryn Stanhouse, and Ferrari’s newly appointed head of fan development, Stefano Pallard, are leading the effort. IBM identified Formula One as a gap in its sports partnership portfolio roughly two years ago and selected Ferrari — which it described as the sport’s all-time winningest team — as its entry point into the series.
The revamped app includes AI-generated race summaries, an AI companion that answers fan questions, behind-the-scenes stories, prediction features, and multiplayer games. The app is now also available in Italian — a notable omission for the Italian team prior to the IBM partnership. IBM’s AI tools analyze engagement signals such as content preferences and message sentiment to help Ferrari shape future storytelling and content delivery.
Since IBM’s involvement, Ferrari reports a 62% increase in engagement over race weekends. Unlike apps IBM has built for tournament-based sports, the Ferrari app is designed to sustain engagement throughout the full calendar year.
The partnership also reflects shifts in Ferrari’s fanbase. F1 data cited in the source shows that 75% of new fans are women, many of them Gen Z, drawn in part by the all-female F1 Academy racing series. Pallard said the team’s five-year vision with IBM is to make every fan — whether they have followed Ferrari for 30 years or 30 days — feel the experience was built specifically for them.
Ferrari is among a small number of F1 teams, alongside McLaren and Williams, to maintain a standalone fan app strategy rather than relying on social media or the official F1 platform.
Source: TechCrunch