Live from Silverstone: F1's drive to provide curated viewer data feeds By George Bevir
Wednesday, July 6, 2022 - 09:00
Print This Story
Formula 1 is looking to provide bespoke data feeds to serve the needs of viewers with varying levels of technical knowledge of the sport, according to F1 director of data systems Rob Smedley.
Smedley says the biggest barrier to boosting fan engagement among new and casual F1 viewers is the highly technical and complex nature of the sport which often needs explaining.
When it comes to deciding what data to show and how much, it's a fine balance and like any decent business, we have to listen to our customers. We have to think about how we engage the causal fan and explain the complexities of F1 in a way that that they can quickly understand, while for me as an engineer, I'd cover the whole screen in data and get rid of the image because I want that level of information and numerical analysis.
The way to avoid overloading with data is to make it a more bespoke experience for everybody. There is only so much that we can put on a linear feed.
Smedley (pictured, below), an F1 engineer who previously worked with the likes of Williams and Ferrari, says his role now is to act as the glue between F1 and Amazon Web Services (AWS), which struck a deal with F1 in 2018 to host the motorsport's data centres and provide machine learning and data analytics services. As part of the arrangement, AWS also works with F1 on its series of F1 Insights' tools, which are on-screen graphics designed to help viewers understand particular elements of the sport.
The way to avoid overloading with data is to make it a more bespoke experience for everybody, because there is only so much that we can put on a linear feed, so we have been thinking about that and pushing ideas around.
[Data] should be an interactive choice and that is something that we are looking at for the future, says Smedley. At the moment, I think we have the balance right with how much data we show on the screen, because we can't overload it and that comes from listening to the broad demographic that watches F1. However, where we need to get to is second and third screen devices so people can have their device and say, I want to curate my data experience in such a way which is completely bespoke to me'.
We're at proof-of-concept stage. It has been talked about for a long time, but there are all sorts of complexities to it. We also need to consider whether it should be behind a paywall or to make a proportion of it available, because really you want to use it to engage fans. It's only a tiny percentage of geeks like me who want to know everything.
Wet weather
Smedley spoke with SVG Europe on Saturday (2 July 2022) during qualification at Silverstone, when the F1 Insights team debuted a new tool focused on qualifying.
In F1, qualifying takes place during a 60-minute session split into three segments. All cars take part in Q1 and the slowest five take positions 16-20 in the race. In Q2, 15 cars compete and the slowest five determine positions 11-15, and Q3 features the remaining ten cars competing for pole position, with the fastest lap taking first place in the race.
Smedley says the new Projected Knockout Time tool aims to predict the time that teams need to reach in order that they pass through to the top 15 in Q1 and the top 10 in Q2.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1543231835504779266?s=20&t=8Y22_2WrL2EcnC2wiL12Mg
We try to use predictive models that take into account all the conditions and historical data, driving models, car models and say right, this is how we think everybody will pan out at the end of this particular qualifying session, or that is the lap time that all of the teams have to beat.
However, while eventual race winner Carlos Sainz was able to take advantage of the rain on Saturday to claim his first ever pole position on his 151st attempt, the wet weather did not provide ideal circumstances for the launch.
Read more: Live from Silverstone: The inside track on F1's innovation aims
F1 director of broadcast and media Dean Locke later explained that the rain had affected the tool. It ran, but we ended up running it a little less because of the rain, because it affected the model so we held back on it and we'll roll it out properly in Austria [the next race in the calendar, on 10 July].
We have a lot of commentators Sky in the UK is a really good example where they will go and speak with someone in a team and ask them what their pole time will be. But we have 80 broadcasters, in 180 territories, and some might not have the capacity of Sky, while others are not on site.
Using the AWS modelling, we have taken all those times, including the predicted cut-off times to work out what drivers need to be aiming for. We're not trying to suggest to viewers don't bother watching it because these will be the times'. What we want to do is show what a driver needs to achieve [in order to qualify further up the grid]; we're trying to build up that excitement, says Locke.
The 2022 F1 season continues 8-10 July in Austria at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Live from Silverstone: F1's drive to provide curated viewer data feeds By George Bevir 
