Embedded Files
Introduction
Introduction
Formula 1 was originally created as one of the sports that worked to push car technology and innovation. It was primarily founded with Western countries, but expanded globally as it continued for its history. In recent years, conversation has occurred about the distance and locations of races on a variety of problems, both social and environmental. The inclusion of certain races has also been debated quite heavily due to their race history or lack of quality racing for entertainment purposes. Race locations are included based often on monetary deals that last often for several years. Other factors include track safety, engagement with certain fan groups, and political conditions, upon others.
Research Questions
Research Questions
How do the locations of Formula 1 highlight various issues in both a societal and environmental manner?
How does history play a role in Formula 1 locations?
How much long distance travel is done between closely located races?
How do race locations impact participation in the sport? Are other factors more important?
Overview Map
Overview Map
All Formula 1 Tracks
All Formula 1 Tracks
Track and Calendar Decisions
Track and Calendar Decisions
Many of the tracks within Formula 1 are chosen and retained in the season calendar for two reasons: historical meaning or money. The most raced at tracks remain Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Circuit de Monaco, Silverstone Circuit, and Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps - all of which appeared in the first season of Formula 1 and continue on the calendar due to history. This is reflected in the timeline map due to consistency of their points within the map. Some other tracks that have entertaining races later become a large part of the Formula 1 history, cementing their place on the calendar as well, such as Autodromo de Interlagos and Île Notre-Dame Circuit. However, others have made their way onto the calendar due to economic reasons and have remained that way due to the large deals. This includes tracks like Bahrain International Circuit ($52M deal) and Yas Marina Circuit ($42M). In recent years, more tracks have been placed in the United States in order to gain more American spectatorship, including both of the two most recent circuits, Miami International Autodrome and Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
Placement throughout the calendar varies due by year based on a load of factors. For instance, the Monaco Grand Prix happens in late May or early June due to historical reasons, as well as the fact that it is placed in similar timing to the Indianapolis 500 and 24 Hours of Le Mans - of which the three races combined make the triple crown of racing. Some other races that always appear in the calendar follow historical pattern as well, however not as strictly. Some to follow this pattern include the British Grand Prix, Italian Grand Prix, and Belgian Grand Prix. Others that follow a pattern include the Australian Grand Prix, which is often a season opener, and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which in recent years has been the season closer. Additional factors include weather patterns, as it would be considered too dangerous to race during certain parts of the year. This includes both the Qatar Grand Prix and Japanese Grand Prix, which have been moved from their placements of prior years due to unsafe conditions environmentally. This happened after several incidents involving the rain at the Suzuka Grand Prix circuit, some of which have been fatal or near fatal, and involving extreme heat at the Lusail International Circuit, which caused various medical problems to drivers.
Formula 1 Races Per Track, appears on graph by least to most amount raced.
Historicism Vs Environmental Issues
Historicism Vs Environmental Issues
In the various maps of Formula 1, it is clear that historicism is valued greatly for track choice and subsequent calendar placement. Additionally, the choice to race at tracks that can only be raced at during certain parts of the year for health concerns causes calendar placement to be an even more complex issue. The complexity of scheduling the large amount of races under specific conditions force a large amount of travel despite tracks being located in close proximity. The back and forth segments of the calendar mean having over a thousand employees traveling for races, not to mention large equipment that must be specially packaged and handled to be shipped to various locations. As a result, the arc map shown first highlights the large carbon footprint that is held by the sport, regardless of their aims to be "carbon net zero" by 2030 as they claim. In this way, it makes it clear that until this scheduling issue is fixed, the carbon footprint in the sport has a long way to go.
Euro-centrism and Barriers to Join the Sport
Euro-centrism and Barriers to Join the Sport
The sport historically has taken place in Europe, with participants from Europe. Although the Americas were once a large participant in Formula 1 during its founding years, this number dropped heavily as the sport progressed. As shown in the maps charting locations, there are a limited amount of races outside of Europe, although the number is growing as time goes on. Formula 1 has historically had a large issue with representation from outside Europe, particularly in continents of which there are large amounts of non-White populations. In addition to the lack of races outside of Europe historically, each entry in Formula 1 currently is European or from the United States, as seen in the visualization to the left. The maps used in conjunction with this visual highlight a clear message: spectatorship is wanted within these countries without much pull for participation. This is due to a variety of reasons, Formula 1 is an expensive sport and it is likely that in areas unable to host the sport, people may be unable to participate due to monetary barriers. Lack of participation from a driver's home country also inspires less people to attempt joining the sport due to a lack of support or knowledge of the sport on the home front. In the recent years, other teams from outside the Western sphere of influence have joined the sport, only to fail upon arrival due to due to entrant barriers and new entrant protocols. Additionally, in recent years, including 2024, organizers have prevented new entrants within the sport. This has caused a stir within the fans of the sport due to the fact that Andretti, the team attempting to enter, is American and the sport has been attempting to garner American participation as of the past few years. This sends unclear messages about how participation is wanted, through active participation, or simply through viewership.
The maps can additionally be used with the below timeline detailing the careers of Asian drivers within the sport. The maps highlight the times that Formula 1 has been hosted within Asia, over 50 times to be specific. Despite Formula 1 racing within Asia since 1976 onward, there have been a limited amount of Asian drivers in Formula 1, often whom do not reach top levels of the sport or do not have long careers as their White counterparts do within the sport. This begs the question as to what unseen barriers are preventing drivers of other races and ethnicities to join the sport, if simply hosting races in a country is not enough. Potential reasons include the popularity of junior Formula series outside of Europe, which often garner little spectatorship and are seen as "less competitive." However, the maps highlight a clear baseline as to how the focus is still within Europe, despite its limited attempts to branch out over time.
Conclusions
Conclusions
The maps within this project aim to chart the locations of Formula 1 races in order to showcase historical locations, the locations which are most common, and how much distance is in between them. A large array of applications are possible when analyzing these maps with outside information or in tangent with other visualizations, particularly in those that are mapping other forms of data within Formula 1. A variety of issues are visible due to this analysis, such as euro-centrism within Formula 1 and environmental problems. The history within the sport charted in these visualizations allows for an understanding of how the sport's history causes or relates to the problems found within these.
Data Sources and Tools
Data Sources and Tools
Data compiled from formula1.com by Kassie Felix Green.
Maps created using flourish and arcGIS storymaps.
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