Tips for analyzing the performance of French F1 teams

07 Ağu 22:49

To evaluate the performance of a French team, I always start by decoupling the raw lap time from external factors: altitude, temperature, and air density. In practice, I create a summary table where each driver has their sector times (S1, S2, S3) normalized by the circuit's average "delta." This allows me to quickly spot performance gaps specific to each part of the track and identify if a team is losing time in braking or acceleration zones. Next, I incorporate tire management: I use degradation data (average track time per lap versus remaining laps) from official telemetry and community analyses (e.g., F1-Insights). By overlaying these curves on the sector time graph, I can visualize the time loss due to wear and compare refueling strategies (2-stop vs. 3-stop) between teams. Tools like Python + Pandas for processing and Plotly Dash for interactive rendering give me a clear and dynamic view. To avoid interpretation biases, I set an analysis window that excludes periods where Safety Cars or DRS heavily influence lap times. I then cross-reference the results with "lap-time deltas" between the driver and their direct competitor, rather than absolute times, to reduce the impact of track variations. Finally, I ensure comparisons are made across similar phases (qualifying, first half of the race, sprint) to keep the analysis consistent. These practices have allowed me to identify reliable trends, even when following multiple consecutive Grands Prix.