What do you think it takes to win a Formula 1 race? Is it the car, the driver, or maybe something else entirely? Let's dive into what makes Formula 1 one of the most challenging and exhilerating sports in the world.
Our project sets out to dissect the most debated season finale in Formula 1 history. A culmination of a season's worth of competition, strategy, and controversy boiled down to one race, leaving fans and critics divided to this day. Our goal is to strip back the layers of this event, examining the key decisions, the intense rivalries, and the moments that have made it a landmark in motorsport discourse. We'll explore what made this race so contentious and while highlighting its most important moments.
This is a deep dive into the complexities of the sport, the rules that shape it, and the impact of those final laps on the legacy of the drivers involved. We used telemetry data collected from cars, using its time and positional elements to show cars' movement on the track to simulate watching the race in real-time. With our highlights of certain laps, we go into the different strategies of racers and key highlights of the race. This allows the reader to comprehend what exactly transpired in the race and give context leading up to the controversy.
Our story is divided mainly into four parts: an explanation of what Formula 1 is and a brief overview of its rules; the context behind the 2021 season, leading up to the final race; the race itself; and the explanation of what makes the race so controversial. We wanted to lay the foundation to get the reader on some terms on how Formula 1 works, and then go into the actual race so that they can get some sense of what makes the race controversial.
Figuring out a way to actually explain Formula 1 to someone unfamiliar with the sport, using the telemetry data to show real-time events in the race, and making the story semi-aesthetic was definitely challenging. However, seeing the cars move as dots is pretty satisfying as an end product.