F1 Race Replay 🏎️ 🏁
A Python application for visualizing Formula 1 race telemetry and replaying race events with interactive controls and a graphical interface.
Features
- Race Replay Visualization: Watch the race unfold with real-time driver positions on a rendered track.
- Leaderboard: See live driver positions and current tyre compounds.
- Lap & Time Display: Track the current lap and total race time.
- Driver Status: Drivers who retire or go out are marked as "OUT" on the leaderboard.
- Interactive Controls: Pause, rewind, fast forward, and adjust playback speed using on-screen buttons or keyboard shortcuts.
- Legend: On-screen legend explains all controls.
- Driver Telemetry Insights: View speed, gear, DRS status, and current lap for selected drivers when selected on the leaderboard.
Controls
- Pause/Resume: SPACE or Pause button
- Rewind/Fast Forward: ← / → or Rewind/Fast Forward buttons
- Playback Speed: ↑ / ↓ or Speed button (cycles through 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x)
- Set Speed Directly: Keys 1–4
- Restart: R to restart replay
- Toggle DRS Zone: D to hide/showi DRS Zone
- Toggle Progress Bar: B to hide/show progress bar
- Toggle Driver Names: L to hide/show driver names on track
- Select driver/drivers: Click to select driver or shift click to select multiple drivers
Qualifying Session Support (in development)
Recently added support for Qualifying session replays with telemetry visualization including speed, gear, throttle, and brake over the lap distance. This feature is still being refined.
Requirements
Install dependencies:
pip install -r requirements.txt
FastF1 cache folder will be created automatically on first run. If it is not created, you can manually create a folder named .fastf1-cache in the project root.
Environment Setup
To get started with this project locally, you can follow these steps:
-
Clone the Repository:
git clone https://github.com/IAmTomShaw/f1-race-replay cd f1-race-replay -
Create a Virtual Environment: This process differs based on your operating system.
- On macOS/Linux:
python3 -m venv venv source venv/bin/activate - On Windows:
python -m venv venv .\venv\Scripts\activate
- On macOS/Linux:
-
Install Dependencies:
pip install -r requirements.txt
-
Run the Application: You can now run the application using the instructions in the Usage section below.
Usage
DEFAULT GUI MENU: To use the new GUI menu system, you can simply run:
This will open a graphical interface where you can select the year and round of the race weekend you want to replay. This is still a new feature, so please report any issues you encounter.
OPTIONAL CLI MENU: To use the CLI menu system, you can simply run:
This will prompt you with series of questions and a list of options to make your choice from using the arrow keys and enter key.
If you would already know the year and round number of the session you would like to watch, you run the commands directly as follows:
Run the main script and specify the year and round:
python main.py --viewer --year 2025 --round 12
To run without HUD:
python main.py --viewer --year 2025 --round 12 --no-hud
To run a Sprint session (if the event has one), add --sprint:
python main.py --viewer --year 2025 --round 12 --sprint
The application will load a pre-computed telemetry dataset if you have run it before for the same event. To force re-computation of telemetry data, use the --refresh-data flag:
python main.py --viewer --year 2025 --round 12 --refresh-data
Qualifying Session Replay
To run a Qualifying session replay, use the --qualifying flag:
python main.py --viewer --year 2025 --round 12 --qualifying
To run a Sprint Qualifying session (if the event has one), add --sprint:
python main.py --viewer --year 2025 --round 12 --qualifying --sprint
File Structure
f1-race-replay/
├── main.py # Entry point, handles session loading and starts the replay
├── requirements.txt # Python dependencies
├── README.md # Project documentation
├── roadmap.md # Planned features and project vision
├── resources/
│ └── preview.png # Race replay preview image
├── src/
│ ├── f1_data.py # Telemetry loading, processing, and frame generation
│ ├── arcade_replay.py # Visualization and UI logic
│ └── ui_components.py # UI components like buttons and leaderboard
│ ├── interfaces/
│ │ └── qualifying.py # Qualifying session interface and telemetry visualization
│ │ └── race_replay.py # Race replay interface and telemetry visualization
│ └── lib/
│ └── tyres.py # Type definitions for telemetry data structures
│ └── time.py # Time formatting utilities
└── .fastf1-cache/ # FastF1 cache folder (created automatically upon first run)
└── computed_data/ # Computed telemetry data (created automatically upon first run)
Customization
- Change track width, colors, and UI layout in
src/arcade_replay.py. - Adjust telemetry processing in
src/f1_data.py.
Contributing
There have been several contributions from the community that have helped enhance this project. I have added a contributors.md file to acknowledge those who have contributed features and improvements.
If you would like to contribute, feel free to:
- Open pull requests for UI improvements or new features.
- Report issues on GitHub.
Please see roadmap.md for planned features and project vision.
Known Issues
- The leaderboard appears to be inaccurate for the first few corners of the race. The leaderboard is also temporarily affected by a driver going in the pits. At the end of the race, the leaderboard is sometimes affected by the drivers' final x,y positions being further ahead than other drivers. These are known issues caused by inaccuracies in the telemetry and are being worked on for future releases. It's likely that these issues will be fixed in stages as improving the leaderboard accuracy is a complex task.
📝 License
This project is licensed under the MIT License.
⚠️ Disclaimer
No copyright infringement intended. Formula 1 and related trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All data used is sourced from publicly available APIs and is used for educational and non-commercial purposes only.
Built with ❤️ by Tom Shaw