Analysis Types¶

PitLane-AI provides several types of F1 data analysis through the web interface. Simply ask questions in natural language, and the AI agent will automatically fetch data, generate visualizations, and provide insights. Each analysis type uses FastF1 for data access and matplotlib for visualizations.

Lap Time Analysis¶

Compare driver lap times with statistical visualizations.

What It Provides¶

Lap time distributions (violin plots, box plots)
Statistical summaries (mean, median, std dev)
Pace comparison across drivers
Qualifying vs. race pace analysis

Use Cases¶

"Compare Verstappen and Hamilton lap times in Monaco 2024"
"Who was fastest in Q3?"
"Show me lap time consistency for the top 5 drivers"
"Analyze pace during the race"

Example Interaction¶

User: Compare Verstappen and Norris lap times in Silverstone 2024 qualifying

Agent: I'll fetch the lap times for VER and NOR from Silverstone Q...
       [Generates lap_times.png]
       Here's the comparison: Verstappen was 0.234s faster on average.

Tyre Strategy Analysis¶

Visualize pit stop strategy and compound usage throughout a race.

What It Provides¶

Stint timeline visualization
Compound usage (Soft, Medium, Hard)
Pit stop timing and frequency
Strategy comparison across drivers

Use Cases¶

"Show me Ferrari's tyre strategy in Monaco"
"What compounds did the top 10 use?"
"Compare one-stop vs. two-stop strategies"
"When did drivers pit?"

What You'll Get¶

The agent will generate a horizontal timeline visualization showing: - Stint durations for each driver - Color-coded tyre compounds (Soft, Medium, Hard) - Pit stop timing markers - Strategy comparison across the field

Qualifying Results¶

View the final qualifying classification and each driver's gap to pole, colored by qualifying phase.

What It Provides¶

Horizontal bar chart: bar length = gap to pole position in seconds
Q3 finishers shown in team color; Q2 eliminees in dimmed team color; Q1 eliminees in gray
Dashed section dividers separating Q3, Q2, and Q1 phases
Automatic support for 20-car (≤2025) and 22-car (2026+) qualifying formats

Use Cases¶

"Who took pole at Monaco 2024?"
"Which drivers made it to Q3?"
"Show me the qualifying gap between Verstappen and Hamilton"
"Who was knocked out in Q1?"
"Show me the sprint shootout results from China"

What You'll Get¶

The agent generates a horizontal bar chart showing: - Each driver's gap to pole (P1 at top, last qualifier at bottom) - Color coding by phase: full team color for Q3 finishers, dimmed for Q2 eliminees, gray for Q1 eliminees - Dashed dividers marking the Q3/Q2 and Q2/Q1 cutoffs - Pole sitter name and lap time in the response

Works for standard qualifying (Q), sprint qualifying (SQ), and sprint shootout (SS) sessions.

Season Summary¶

Visualize the championship standings across an entire season as an interactive points heatmap.

What It Provides¶

Interactive HTML heatmap with per-round points for each driver or constructor
Two-panel layout: per-round points grid (left) and total season points bar (right)
Championship order sorting (leader at top)
Sprint race points included automatically
Hover tooltips showing finishing positions per round (drivers mode)

Use Cases¶

"Show me the 2024 drivers championship standings"
"How did the constructors points evolve across the season?"
"Which rounds did Verstappen dominate?"
"Show me the championship picture after round 10"

What You'll Get¶

The agent generates an interactive HTML chart showing: - A color-coded heatmap (YlGnBu scale) of points earned each round, sorted by total championship points - A bar chart alongside it showing each competitor's season total - Hover for per-round finishing position (drivers mode) - Works for both in-progress and completed seasons

Team Pace Comparison¶

Compare lap time distributions across all teams in a session using a box plot.

What It Provides¶

Box plot of lap time distributions, one box per team
Teams sorted fastest-to-slowest by median pace
Team colors from FastF1 color scheme
Pace delta vs fastest team (in seconds)
Per-team statistics: median, mean, std dev, lap count
Outlier filtering (pit in/out, safety car, formation laps excluded)
Optional team filtering to focus on a subset

Use Cases¶

"Compare team pace in Monaco 2024"
"How did Ferrari and Mercedes compare on race pace at Silverstone?"
"Show me team pace from pre-season testing day 2"
"Which team was most consistent in the race?"

What You'll Get¶

The agent generates a PNG chart showing: - A box plot per team, sorted by fastest median pace (left = fastest) - Whiskers extending to 1.5× IQ range with individual outliers - Pace delta vs fastest team labeled per box - Covers any session type: race, qualifying, practice, or pre-season testing

Driver Information¶

Query driver details, codes, and career information.

What It Provides¶

Driver names and codes
Team affiliations by season
Nationality and date of birth
Wikipedia links for details

Use Cases¶

"Who drove for Ferrari in 2019?"
"What's Leclerc's driver code?"
"List all drivers in the 2024 season"
"Show me Alpine's driver lineup"

What You'll Get¶

The agent will provide driver information including: - Driver names and three-letter codes (e.g., LEC for Leclerc) - Team affiliations for the requested season - Nationality and biographical details - Links to Wikipedia for more information

Event Schedule¶

Query race calendar, dates, and session timings.

What It Provides¶

Season calendar with race dates
Location and round numbers
Session schedules (FP1, FP2, FP3, Q, R)
Sprint weekend identification

Use Cases¶

"When is the next race?"
"Show me the 2024 calendar"
"What time is qualifying in Monaco?"
"List all sprint weekends"

What You'll Get¶

The agent will provide schedule information including: - Race dates and locations for the season - Session timings (Practice, Qualifying, Race) - Sprint weekend identification - Round numbers and Grand Prix names

Telemetry Analysis¶

Compare detailed car telemetry between drivers on their fastest laps (speed, RPM, gear, throttle, brake, super clipping).

What It Provides¶

Interactive HTML chart with 6 synchronized subplots (Speed, RPM, Gear, Throttle, Brake, Super Clipping) — all panels share zoom and pan
Hover tooltips showing each driver's value at a given distance, plus deltas vs the other drivers
Sector times (S1, S2, S3), speed trap speed, and finish-line speed per driver
Lift-and-coast zone detection: counts and distance ranges where a driver coasts off throttle before braking
Super clipping detection: counts zones where a driver is full-throttle under DRS (potential aero inefficiency)
Optional corner annotations (corner numbers on track distance axis)
Accepts 2–5 drivers for comparison

Use Cases¶

"Compare Verstappen and Norris telemetry in Silverstone 2024 qualifying"
"Show me braking points in Monaco Turn 1"
"Where does Verstappen lift and coast at Monza?"
"Show me sector time differences between Norris and Piastri in Bahrain"
"Who carries more speed through the final sector?"

What You'll Get¶

The agent generates an interactive HTML chart (displayed inline in the chat) showing: - Speed, RPM, Gear, Throttle, Brake, and Super Clipping traces across lap distance - Hover for per-driver values and deltas at any point on track - Per-driver statistics: lap time, sector times (S1/S2/S3), speed trap, finish speed, lift-coast zones, super clipping zones - Optional corner number annotations along the distance axis

Multi-Lap Comparison¶

Compare multiple laps for a single driver within one session — useful for understanding lap-to-lap variation, qualifying run comparisons, or stint pace evolution.

What It Provides¶

Same interactive Plotly chart as Telemetry Analysis, but each trace is a different lap rather than a different driver
Lap specifiers: best (fastest lap in session) or a specific lap number
Accepts 2–6 laps per comparison

Use Cases¶

"Compare Verstappen's Q1 and Q3 laps in Monaco"
"Show me how Leclerc's pace changed across his stints in Bahrain"
"Compare Norris's best lap vs lap 12 in practice"

What You'll Get¶

An interactive telemetry chart overlaying the selected laps, with hover deltas between laps and per-lap statistics (lap time, sector times).

Year-Over-Year Comparison¶

Compare a single driver's fastest lap at the same circuit across multiple seasons — ideal for visualizing the impact of regulation changes on braking points, speed profiles, and driving technique.

What It Provides¶

Same interactive Plotly chart, with each trace representing the driver's best lap in a given year
Accepts 2–6 seasons per comparison
Works for any session type (qualifying, race, practice)

Use Cases¶

"How does Verstappen's Monza lap compare between 2022 and 2024?"
"Show the impact of the 2022 regulation change on Leclerc's speed profile at Silverstone"
"Compare Hamilton's Monaco qualifying laps across 2019, 2021, and 2023"

What You'll Get¶

An interactive telemetry chart showing the driver's best lap from each selected season overlaid on a common distance axis, with year labels on each trace and per-year statistics.

Pre-Season Testing¶

Several analysis types support pre-season testing sessions in addition to race weekends. Instead of specifying a Grand Prix name and session type, ask about a testing event by number and day.

Use Cases¶

"Show me Verstappen's telemetry from day 2 of pre-season testing 2024"
"Compare lap times for VER and NOR in testing event 1 day 3"

The agent maps these to the --test N --day N flags on the CLI instead of --gp/--session.

How to Use¶

Using PitLane-AI is simple:

Open the Web Interface
Start the web app (see Web Interface)
Navigate to http://localhost:8000
Ask Your Question
Type your question in natural language
Be specific about the race, session, and drivers you're interested in
Example: "Compare Verstappen and Hamilton qualifying pace in Monaco 2024"
Review the Results
The agent will stream its analysis in real-time
Visualizations (charts, plots) are generated automatically
Interactive charts are displayed directly in the chat

Example Interaction¶

User: Compare Verstappen and Hamilton qualifying pace in Monaco 2024

Agent: I'll analyze the qualifying lap times for VER and HAM in Monaco 2024...

      [Fetches session data]
      [Generates lap time visualization]

      Here's the analysis:

      Verstappen:
      - Mean: 1:12.345 (+/- 0.234s)
      - Best: 1:12.123

      Hamilton:
      - Mean: 1:12.567 (+/- 0.321s)
      - Best: 1:12.234

      [lap_times.png displayed in chat]

      Verstappen was consistently faster by ~0.2s on average.

The agent automatically: - Determines what analysis to perform - Extracts parameters (year, GP, session, drivers) - Fetches and processes F1 data - Generates visualizations - Provides natural language insights

Data Sources¶

Analysis Type	Data Source
Lap Times	FastF1 API
Tyre Strategy	FastF1 API
Qualifying Results	FastF1 API
Season Summary	FastF1 API
Team Pace	FastF1 API
Telemetry	FastF1 API
Driver Info	Ergast API
Schedule	FastF1 Schedule

Limitations¶

Historical Data: FastF1 data available from 2018 onwards (incomplete before)
Live Timing: Not real-time (data available ~1 hour after session)
Telemetry: Limited to GPS-based data (no internal car sensors)
Sprint Weekends: Different session structure (SQ instead of Q)

Web Interface - Getting started with the web app
Architecture: Skills - How the agent system works
Agent CLI - CLI reference (for agents/developers)

Analysis Types¶

Lap Time Analysis¶

What It Provides¶

Use Cases¶

Example Interaction¶

Tyre Strategy Analysis¶

What It Provides¶

Use Cases¶

What You'll Get¶

Qualifying Results¶

What It Provides¶

Use Cases¶

What You'll Get¶

Season Summary¶

What It Provides¶

Use Cases¶

What You'll Get¶

Team Pace Comparison¶

What It Provides¶

Use Cases¶

What You'll Get¶

Driver Information¶

What It Provides¶

Use Cases¶

What You'll Get¶

Event Schedule¶

What It Provides¶

Use Cases¶

What You'll Get¶

Telemetry Analysis¶

What It Provides¶

Use Cases¶

What You'll Get¶

Multi-Lap Comparison¶

What It Provides¶

Use Cases¶

What You'll Get¶

Year-Over-Year Comparison¶

What It Provides¶

Use Cases¶

What You'll Get¶

Pre-Season Testing¶

Use Cases¶

How to Use¶

Example Interaction¶

Data Sources¶

Limitations¶

Related Documentation¶