This project performs a data-driven analysis of historical Formula 1 data (1983–2021) to identify which seasons and eras featured the most “action-packed” races.
Because we don’t have a reliable overtake count in the dataset used here, we use grid-to-finish position gains as a practical proxy for race “action”.
For each driver in each Grand Prix:
Quali_Pos= qualifying/grid positionRace_Pos= finishing position
Compute:
Position_Change = Quali_Pos - Race_PosPositions_Gained = max(Position_Change, 0)(only gains; position losses are clipped to 0)
Then:
- Race action score = sum of
Positions_Gainedacross all drivers in that race - Season action score = mean race action score across races in that season
- Average positions gained per race for each season
- Comparison across three sporting eras:
- High-Action / No Refueling (1983–1993)
- Refueling Allowed (1994–2009)
- Modern / No Refueling (2010–2021)
- Overtake King per year: driver with max total
Positions_Gainedin that season - Career overtake leaders: drivers ranked by total
Positions_Gained(1983–2021) - Overtake efficiency (ratio):
Positions_Gained / Races_Attended(with a minimum races filter to avoid one-off outliers)
The raw dataset (from Kaggle) contained seasons earlier than 1983, but the analysis intentionally filters to 1983+ because qualifying/grid data is sparse or inconsistent for many earlier years.