NOTE: Full version of this Notebook is at Kaggle.

This notebook shows race traces for each F1 race in 2021, using the Formula 1 World Championship 1950-2021 data set, which is sourced from ergast.com, and the Formula 1 Race Events dataset using data from Wikipedia.

Race traces provide an excellent way to visualize the progress of an entire Grand Prix. They show the gaps between cars, the general field spread, and the relative pace of each car throughout the race as a line gradient. The traces are calculated using cumulative race lap times, which are adjusted by the median lap time at that point in the race. The horizontal zero line represents a virtual reference car completing the average lap time of the field. The lines above this zero line depict faster cars, while the lines below it represent slower ones.

Here are some key features of the race traces:

• The line colors for each driver are based on their team colors.
• The fastest lap is marked with a ★.
• Laps where a car went via the pit lane are marked with a ●.
• Laps affected by the safety car are highlighted in yellow, indicating why the gaps between cars have reduced.
• Virtual safety cars, introduced in 2015, are highlighted in orange, as they cause the lines to spread out temporarily since leaders have completed more of the first affected lap at racing speeds.
• Overtakes are visible where the lines cross, often due to pit-stops.
• Truncated lines indicate retirement from the race.

The shadow at the bottom of the trace indicates which cars have been lapped by the lead car. This helps to reveal some effects, such as leaders making pit-stops to avoid slower traffic ahead. Backmarkers must allow leading cars through, and the edge of the shadow shows why their lines suddenly dip. Leaders may also ease off to let a lapped car through at the end of a race.

It's worth noting that good safety car data is hard to find, and the data scraped from Wikipedia may contain some mistakes. Therefore, the virtual safety car highlights in the traces are the author's estimates using lap-time data.

Overall, these race traces offer a comprehensive and informative way to understand the progress of each F1 race in 2021.

Tip: to see better resolution, <Right click> → Open Image in New Tab.

Revisions¶

• version 1: fixed code for Melbourne 2021 postponement
• version 5: add fastest lap marker
• version 11: added laps per position and top drivers chart
• version 21: safety car, red flag & lapped cars highlighting
• version 22: add sprint race points to table at end

All F1 Race Traces¶

There is a notebook for every year that has lap-time data:

1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.

2021 Formula One World Championship¶

For background see Wikipedia; here's an excerpt:

The 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which was the 72nd running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of international motorsport, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship was contested over twenty-two Grands Prix, and held around the world. Drivers and teams competed for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion, respectively.

At season's end in Abu Dhabi, Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing-Honda won the Drivers' Championship for the first time in his career. Verstappen became the first ever driver from the Netherlands, the first Honda-powered driver since Ayrton Senna in 1991, the first Red Bull driver since Sebastian Vettel in 2013 and the first non-Mercedes driver in the turbo-hybrid era to win the World Championship.

Honda became the second engine supplier in the turbo-hybrid era to power a championship winning car, after Mercedes. Four-time defending and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes finished runner up. Mercedes retained the Constructors' Championship for the eighth consecutive season.

The season ended with a controversial finish, with the two title rivals for the drivers' crown entering the last race of the season with equal points. Verstappen sealed the title after winning the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after a last-lap restart pass on Hamilton following a contentious conclusion of a safety car period. Mercedes initially protested the results, and later decided not to appeal after their protest was denied. The incident led to key structural changes to race control, including the removal of Michael Masi from his role as race director and the implementation of a virtual race control room, who assist the race director. Unlapping procedures behind the safety car were to be reassessed and presented by the F1 Sporting Advisory Committee prior to the start of the 2022 World Championship season. On 10 March 2022 the FIA World Motor Sport Council report on the events of the final race of the season was announced, and that the "Race Director called the safety car back into the pit lane without it having completed an additional lap as required by the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations", however also noted that the "results of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the FIA Formula One World Championship are valid, final and cannot now be changed".

This was the first season since 2008 where the champion driver was not from the team that took the constructors' title.

Laps Per Position¶

Top F1 Drivers 2021¶