Innovation inspired: Confessions of a data junkie

F1's role in data science and data visualisation

07/03/2015 by Tony Hirst

As well as innovating on the vehicles themselves, F1 teams also help drive innovation in high performance computing and data analysis, with McLaren, for example, recently tying up a deal to provide predictive analytics expertise to KPMG. This side of the sport, however, and its potential for helping promote engagement in the STEM subject areas (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is often under-reported.

Anyone but Vettel

A look at the 2013 season without that chirpy little Wunderkind

13/09/2013 by Stuart Taylor

Unfortunately for fans of competitive racing, that boy Sebastian Vettel has only gone and run off with the championship again. Even his boyish yelps and Mario-esque ‘woohoo’s over the victory lap cannot hope to cover the snores from our armchairs and the boos from the crowds. Here at Sidepodcast, a great number of the commenters have chanted, ‘anyone but Vettel’: perhaps the only thing most of us can agree on! But where would we be if our dreams were answered, Frank Capra style, and Vettel was erased from history?

Selecting the best time to launch an F1 car

Is there a relationship between a car’s launch date and its performance?

22/02/2013 by Will Davies

In the current F1 landscape, as there is a great focus on testing and time in the car, it is worthwhile considering whether the date a car is launched affects the final performance of the team. Is it vital to a team’s final results for them to launch their cars promptly? And does a late launch leave a team behind, even before the season kicks off for real? Does it work the other way round, or does it not even matter?

2012's summer break season statistic summary

Are we halfway through a vintage F1 season?

08/08/2012 by KerbRider

After round 4 I posted a small article on the state of the 2012 championship. This came about from Mr C making a comment about 2012 potentially being a "vintage" season. I promised at the time to write a follow up post for the summer break (a bitterly cold winter for me). So as promised here follows the 2012 F1 championship in (what I find) interesting statistics.

2012's super season start in statistics

How the beginning of this year stacks up to previous F1 seasons

29/04/2012 by KerbRider

With 2012 providing a fascinating Formula One season so far, KerbRider makes the most of a three week break before the next race to look at how the stats stack up. From winners to qualifying heroes, there's plenty to read into the numbers behind the race weekends. Mr C said in the last Aside with Joe that this season is shaping up to be "vintage". I have just been perusing my F1 spreadsheets that date back to 2007 and looking at this recent history, it's hard to argue against that.

The future of the F1 calendar

Which circuits have confirmed races for the coming seasons?

09/12/2011 by James

The calendar for the 2012 Formula One season was ratified by the FIA this week and confirmed that it will be a 20 race season, starting in March and ending in November much like the 2011 season. So that is next season sorted (although with doubts over the Bahrain and US races), what does the future hold? Which circuits will come and which will go? In this post I have made the assumption, based on persisting rumours, that the Belgium and French races will alternate from 2012 onwards.

Lies, damn lies and F1 statistics

Sebastian Vettel's pole position spectacular has to be taken with a pinch of salt

12/11/2011 by Christine

Sebastian Vettel took another pole position today, which isn't a surprise after the season he has had experienced. The news is almost not worthy of headlines anymore, except for the fact that apparently, he's on his way to another record. Vettel has now equalled the statistic set by Nigel Mansell in 1992 - 14 pole positions in one season.

Nothing compares to you

A closer look at Formula One searching on the world wide web

10/08/2011 by Christine

The Google Books Ngram Viewer is an analytics and search tool that allows you to look through years of publications to see how popular a particular word or phrase has been. The viewer looks through five million books over 500 years, giving plenty of scope to ascertain trends based on the results. For example, searching for the words "radio" and "television" together produce an interesting insight into how audio and visual entertainment has changed.

More statistics and analysis from the F1 Data Junkie

All the action from the Hungarian Grand Prix in one handy graph

07/08/2011 by Mr. C

It's been more than twelve months since we caught up with the F1 Data Junkie and his in depth analysis of McLaren's live telemetry. In the interim the man has continued to push the boundaries of Formula 1 statistics, so much so that it's about time we highlighted more innovations that can help us better understand motorsport in 2011.

5 and 3/4: Looking back at title standings with 5 races to go and at the 3/4 mark of the season

What history can teach us about title championship battles

16/09/2010 by Journeyer

On Christine's post regarding Sebastian Vettel, Stuart Taylor asked this in the comments: "Anyone know the lowest position an eventual champion has been in with 5 races to go? Lower than 5th?" It was a very interesting question and I decided to look for the answer. As things turned out, it was not as straightforward as it first seemed, so at Mr C's request, I decided it was best to write a separate post to talk all about it.

F1 Analytics 2009 (Part 2) - Teammate comparisons

Pitting the best of the best against each other, two at a time

27/11/2009 by Christine

In our 2009 Analytics series, we have so far looked at the points scored by teams and drivers throughout the season, and therefore how the year took shape. Now it's time to look at the team comparisons. The raw data is simply which driver finished ahead in qualifying and the races, and of course that doesn't tell the whole story, but it does give a good indicator of performance.

F1 Analytics 2009 (Part 1) - Points tables

A review and look behind the meaning of the championship standings

21/11/2009 by Christine

The news just keeps on coming regarding next year's season, but here at Sidepodcast Towers, we are just about ready to start reviewing the season. Last year, we took a detailed look at the year through some statistics and graphs, and it seems like a good time to repeat the process for 2009. We're starting with a quick look at the championship points, and how the season progressed.

F1 Analytics (Part 4) - Driver career statistics

A look at how 2008 has added to the lifelong records of the grid

12/11/2008 by Christine

Our final foray into the statistics from the 2008 season actually takes a look at the bigger picture. I've charted the numbers for a driver's entire career, comparing race wins, fastest laps and career points to the number of races he has started.

F1 Analytics (Part 3) - Retirement statistics

How many times, and for what reasons, drivers didn't see the chequered flag

09/11/2008 by Christine

As part of our ongoing series looking at the numbers behind the 2008 Formula 1 season, we're moving on to retirement statistics. A table, and a couple of pretty pie charts, lead us to some startling conclusions about how the teams performed throughout the year.

F1 Analytics (Part 2) - Teammate comparisons

The real way to tell a good driver is to compare him to his teammate

07/11/2008 by Christine

The second in our series of 2008 season statistics takes a closer look at how the inter-team battles played out. The raw data can be over-simplified, who outperformed the other in qualifying compared to the race doesn't always show the truth about what happens each weekend.

F1 Analytics (Part 1) - Points tables

Reviewing the 2008 Formula One season with a look at the championship standings

05/11/2008 by Christine

With things beginning to settle down after a manic end to the season, it's time to start reviewing the year. What better way to kick things off than with some graphs? You know us, any excuse to post a geeky chart or two. This series of posts will look at some of the statistics the year has provided us with, and what conclusions we can draw from them.