F1 Practice & Long-Run Analysis

Season Grand Prix Practice session Driver A Driver B Long-run compound

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How to use the F1 Practice & Long-Run Analysis tool

The F1 Practice & Long-Run Analysis tool allows you to examine Formula 1 practice-session performance beyond the headline classification. It combines valid lap times, short-run pace, same-compound long-run analysis, stint consistency, sector information and session conditions to provide a clearer picture of what happened during practice.

Select a Grand Prix and an available practice session, then choose any two drivers to compare. You can also select a tyre compound for the long-run analysis when sufficient eligible stint data is available.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are selected by default, making the tool particularly useful for comparing Ferrari’s two drivers, but any two drivers with available practice data can be selected.

The analysis is designed to answer questions such as:

who recorded the fastest representative practice laps
how consistent each driver’s quicker laps were
which drivers completed comparable long runs on the same tyre compound
how their observed stint pace developed
how sector performance differed
what tyre and track conditions accompanied the recorded performance

Why practice data needs context

Formula 1 practice sessions are not controlled performance tests.

Teams can run different:

fuel loads
engine and energy-deployment settings
aerodynamic configurations
mechanical setups
tyre programmes
run plans

These variables are generally not public in sufficient detail to normalise every lap accurately.

For that reason, the tool describes observed practice performance. It does not claim to calculate true fuel-corrected race pace or to determine conclusively which car was fastest under identical conditions.

This distinction is particularly important when interpreting long runs.

Which practice sessions are available?

The tool can analyse locally imported Formula 1 practice sessions for each available Grand Prix.

Traditional race weekends can include Practice 1, Practice 2 and Practice 3. Sprint-format weekends normally provide fewer practice sessions, meaning only the sessions that actually took place and have been imported will be available.

Changing the practice session updates the entire comparison, including the benchmark lap, selected-driver statistics, long-run candidates, full-field pace and session conditions.

What is the session benchmark?

The session benchmark is the fastest valid lap recorded by any driver in the selected practice session after the tool’s validity checks have been applied.

Selected-driver gaps are measured against this benchmark.

The benchmark is therefore a useful reference for observed one-lap practice performance, but it should not automatically be interpreted as the definitive competitive order because drivers may have completed their quickest laps under different fuel loads, tyre conditions or run programmes.

Fastest valid practice lap

The fastest-valid-lap metric shows the quickest eligible timed lap recorded by each selected driver in the chosen practice session.

The tool excludes laps that should not form part of a representative fastest-lap comparison, including deleted or incomplete laps and pit-in or pit-out laps.

Where suitable source information is available, anomalous laps that conflict with the driver’s official personal-best marker can also be excluded.

The resulting lap is used as the primary reference for several other practice metrics shown on the page.

Gap to the session benchmark

The gap metric shows the difference between each selected driver’s fastest valid lap and the fastest valid lap recorded by any driver in the session.

A value of:

0.000s

means that driver set the session benchmark.

A positive value shows how much slower the driver’s fastest valid lap was.

The number describes observed lap-time difference only and does not adjust for fuel load, tyre age, track evolution or traffic.

Best-three median

A single fastest lap can be influenced by track evolution, traffic or an unusually strong or weak attempt.

The best-three median therefore provides an additional short-run pace reference.

It is calculated from the median of each driver’s three quickest valid laps in the selected practice session. If fewer than three valid laps are available, all available valid laps are used.

Because the median is less dependent on one isolated lap, it can provide useful context when comparing drivers who completed several representative short runs.

It remains an observed practice metric rather than a fuel-corrected simulation estimate.

Valid timed laps

The selected-driver overview also shows how many valid timed laps were available for the fastest-lap and best-three analysis.

A larger sample can provide more context than a session in which a driver completed only a handful of representative laps.

Lap count should nevertheless not be interpreted as performance by itself. Drivers may complete very different programmes during the same practice session.

What is a long-run candidate?

The long-run analysis does not simply group every consecutive lap completed by a driver.

An eligible long-run candidate requires at least four retained analysis laps within the same recorded stint and tyre compound.

The analysis excludes laps that are unsuitable for representative long-run comparison, including:

deleted or generated laps
pit-in and pit-out laps
laps marked as inaccurate
laps affected by yellow or red flag conditions where identified
Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car laps where identified
obvious slow or non-representative laps

Within a candidate stint, laps slower than approximately 107% of that stint’s quickest eligible lap are removed from the analysis as obvious slow-running outliers.

This filtering is intended to create a more useful comparison of sustained running without pretending that every remaining lap was completed under identical conditions.

Selected-driver stint details

The selected-driver stint section shows the eligible long-run candidates recorded by the two chosen drivers on the selected tyre compound.

Depending on the session programme, one driver may have several eligible candidates while the other may have none.

The table includes information such as:

recorded stint
tyre compound and tyre age where available
lap range
number of retained analysis laps
median lap time
gap to the quickest comparable candidate
consistency
observed stint trend

The following full-field comparison then uses each driver’s quickest-median eligible candidate on the selected compound.

Long-run median pace

The long-run median is the median lap time of the retained laps within an eligible candidate stint.

Using the median helps reduce the influence of isolated quicker or slower laps and provides a useful central reference for the observed stint.

When a driver has more than one eligible long-run candidate on the selected compound, the full-field ranking uses that driver’s quickest-median eligible candidate.

This creates a consistent ranking method across the field.

It does not mean that the table represents a fuel-corrected race-pace order.

Same-compound observed long-run comparison

The same-compound comparison ranks drivers using their quickest-median eligible long-run candidate on the selected tyre compound.

Comparing drivers on the same recorded compound removes one obvious source of variation, but it does not eliminate differences in:

fuel load
tyre age
engine mode
energy deployment
setup
traffic
track conditions
run objective

The ranking should therefore be read as an observed same-compound practice comparison, not as a definitive race-pace prediction.

What does the long-run gap mean?

The long-run gap shows the difference between each driver’s selected candidate median and the quickest candidate median in the same-compound comparison.

A driver shown at:

+0.479s

recorded a candidate median 0.479 seconds slower than the quickest eligible candidate in that comparison.

These gaps are useful for quickly understanding the observed spread between drivers, but they are not corrected for fuel or programme differences.

Long-run consistency and MAD

The tool measures observed stint consistency using median absolute deviation, or MAD.

MAD describes how tightly the retained lap times are grouped around their median.

A lower value generally indicates a more consistent observed lap-time spread, while a higher value indicates greater variation.

For example, a driver with a MAD of 0.200 seconds completed retained laps that were more tightly grouped than a driver with a MAD of 0.800 seconds.

Consistency does not necessarily mean greater outright pace. A slower stint can be very consistent, while a faster stint may contain more variation.

Observed stint trend

The observed stint trend is a simple linear slope calculated from retained lap time against recorded lap number.

It is expressed in seconds per lap.

A negative value indicates that the recorded lap times tended to become quicker through the retained part of the stint, while a positive value indicates that they tended to become slower.

The tool may therefore describe a stint as:

getting faster
getting slower
broadly flat

This metric is not tyre degradation.

Fuel burn, track evolution, traffic, driver preparation, energy deployment and changing operating conditions can all influence the observed slope.

Why observed stint trend is not tyre degradation

True tyre-degradation analysis requires more information than lap-time progression alone.

A car naturally becomes lighter as fuel is consumed, which can improve lap time even while tyre performance deteriorates. Track conditions can also evolve during the stint, while drivers may change engine settings, pace targets or traffic position.

A negative lap-time slope therefore does not mean that the tyre became faster, just as a positive slope does not prove a specific degradation rate.

For more detailed race-stint analysis, use the F1 Tyre & Stint Analysis tool.

Tyre information on the fastest lap

Where available, the tool displays the recorded compound and tyre-set context associated with each selected driver’s fastest valid lap.

The tyre can be shown as fresh or used together with its recorded age in laps.

This provides useful context when two drivers recorded similar lap times on tyres at different stages of their life.

Tyre age alone does not determine performance because tyre preparation, previous running, compound behaviour and track conditions can all influence lap time.

Sector comparison

The fastest-lap context includes each selected driver’s best valid Sector 1, Sector 2 and Sector 3 times recorded during the selected practice session.

These sector times are not necessarily taken from the same completed lap.

They therefore show where each driver demonstrated their strongest recorded sector performance rather than reconstructing a single actual lap.

Sector comparison can help identify areas of relative strength around the circuit, but it should not automatically be used to assign a technical cause.

Practice speed references

The fastest-lap context also shows available speed references such as:

Intermediate 1 speed
Intermediate 2 speed
finish-line speed
longest-straight speed

These values provide additional context from the selected driver’s fastest valid lap.

They should not automatically be treated as official all-session maximum-speed rankings.

A driver may have recorded a higher speed on another lap that is not the lap selected for the fastest-valid-lap comparison.

Speed can also be influenced by slipstream, aerodynamic setup, energy deployment, tyre condition and the driver’s approach to the preceding corner.

Selected-driver lap-time timeline

The lap-time timeline shows how the two selected drivers’ valid timed laps developed through the practice session.

It can help reveal:

short-run qualifying simulations
longer continuous runs
changes in lap-time level during the session
differences between the two drivers’ run programmes

To keep the chart readable, valid laps more than approximately 15 seconds slower than the session benchmark are omitted from the visual timeline only.

Those laps are not automatically removed from every other part of the dataset solely because they are not displayed on this chart.

Breaks in the plotted lines indicate non-consecutive displayed laps.

Full-field observed practice pace

The full-field practice table ranks every driver with usable valid timing according to their fastest valid lap in the selected session.

It also includes:

gap to the session benchmark
best-three median
tyre compound used on the fastest valid lap
available tyre-age context

The best-three median is especially useful alongside the fastest lap because it provides additional context about repeated short-run performance.

The table remains an observed practice ranking and does not normalise fuel load, engine mode, tyre history, traffic or run programme.

Session conditions

Practice performance can change significantly as track and weather conditions evolve.

The session-conditions section therefore provides available information including:

air-temperature range
track-temperature range
wind-speed range
whether rainfall was detected
number of drivers with usable timing
number of drivers with eligible long-run candidates on the selected compound

These values help place the performance data into context, particularly during sessions where conditions changed substantially.

Why long-run coverage matters

Not every driver completes a representative long run on every tyre compound during practice.

The long-run coverage figure shows how many drivers have at least one eligible candidate on the selected compound.

A comparison involving 15 drivers provides a broader field reference than one involving only four or five.

However, greater coverage still does not guarantee identical run conditions.

Practice pace compared with qualifying pace

Practice and qualifying serve very different purposes.

During practice, teams evaluate tyres, setup, fuel loads and race or qualifying simulations. In qualifying, every driver is primarily trying to maximise lap time.

For a cleaner comparison of outright qualifying performance, use the F1 Qualifying Pace & Sector Comparison tool.

For a deeper examination of the best valid qualifying laps through speed, throttle, braking, gear and RPM, use the F1 Telemetry & Corner Comparison tool.

Practice long runs compared with race pace

Practice long runs can provide useful clues about sustained performance, but they are not the same as Grand Prix race pace.

Race laps take place with known race progression, changing fuel load, strategic tyre use, traffic and competitive position.

For completed Grand Prix analysis, use the F1 Race Pace & Lap Time Comparison tool.

The F1 Tyre & Stint Analysis tool can also be used to examine race tyre strategies, stint pace and consistency.

Ferrari practice comparisons

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are selected by default, allowing Ferrari fans to quickly compare the two drivers during each available practice session.

The tool can show whether their quickest laps were close, how their best-three medians differed, which tyre each used and whether either driver completed an eligible long-run candidate on the selected compound.

The comparison is not limited to Ferrari. Any two drivers with available local timing data can be selected.

For a broader season-long comparison, visit the Charles Leclerc vs Lewis Hamilton F1 Head-to-Head Statistics page.

You can also compare Ferrari’s race performance with other constructors through the Ferrari vs F1 Rivals tool.

What the practice tool does not use

The F1 Practice & Long-Run Analysis tool does not download or process full car telemetry for every practice lap.

Its purpose is aggregate practice timing and stint analysis rather than detailed throttle, braking, gear or RPM comparison.

Detailed qualifying telemetry is handled separately by the F1 Telemetry & Corner Comparison tool.

Keeping these datasets separate allows the practice tool to remain lightweight while still providing useful lap-time and long-run analysis.

How the F1 Practice & Long-Run Analysis tool is optimised for page performance

Practice timing data is downloaded and prepared separately through the website administration area.

Visitors do not trigger external practice-data requests when opening or changing a comparison.

The public tool reads locally generated JSON files containing the aggregate timing, stint and session information required for the selected practice session.

This architecture keeps frontend requests lightweight and prevents every page view from repeatedly downloading the original external practice dataset.

Methodology and limitations

The F1 Practice & Long-Run Analysis tool is designed to describe observable practice-session performance without presenting unknown variables as known facts.

Fastest-lap analysis uses eligible timed laps after filtering deleted, generated or incomplete laps and pit-in or pit-out laps.

The best-three metric is the median of each driver’s three quickest valid laps, or all valid laps when fewer than three exist.

Long-run candidates require at least four retained analysis laps within the same recorded stint and tyre compound.

Deleted, generated, inaccurate and pit laps are excluded from long-run analysis, together with laps affected by yellow flags, red flags, Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car conditions where those states are identified.

Laps slower than approximately 107% of the quickest eligible lap within the candidate are removed as obvious slow or non-representative laps.

Long-run consistency is measured using median absolute deviation.

Observed stint trend is calculated as a simple linear slope of retained lap time against recorded lap number.

None of these calculations directly identifies fuel load, engine mode, energy deployment, setup or true tyre degradation.

The tool should therefore be used as an analytical reference for recorded practice performance rather than as a simulation of equalised car performance.

Frequently asked questions

Does the tool show true Formula 1 race pace?

No. It compares observed practice performance. Fuel loads, engine modes, energy deployment and run programmes are not publicly known well enough to create a fully equalised race-pace ranking.

What is the session benchmark?

It is the fastest valid lap recorded by any driver in the selected practice session after the tool’s validity checks have been applied.

What does best-three median mean?

It is the median of a driver’s three quickest valid laps in the selected session. If fewer than three valid laps are available, all available valid laps are used.

How many laps are required for a long run?

An eligible long-run candidate requires at least four retained analysis laps within the same recorded stint and tyre compound.

Why does a driver sometimes have no long-run value?

The driver may not have completed enough eligible consecutive running on the selected compound, or laps may have been removed because of pit activity, flags, inaccurate timing or other exclusion criteria.

Does a positive observed stint trend equal tyre degradation?

No. The trend is only the recorded lap-time slope. Fuel burn, track evolution, traffic, energy use and run programme can all affect it.

What does MAD mean?

MAD stands for median absolute deviation. It measures how tightly the retained lap times in a long-run candidate are grouped around their median. Lower values indicate a tighter observed spread.

Why are drivers compared on the same tyre compound?

Using the same recorded compound removes one obvious difference between runs, although fuel load, tyre age, setup and other variables can still differ.

Does the fastest driver in the long-run table necessarily have the best race pace?

No. The table ranks observed candidate medians and is not fuel corrected.

Are the speed figures official session top speeds?

Not necessarily. The speed context shown for each selected driver is associated with their fastest valid lap and should not be treated as an all-session maximum-speed ranking.

Why can a driver’s best sector times add up to a lap faster than their actual fastest lap?

The best Sector 1, Sector 2 and Sector 3 values may have been recorded on different laps. They represent the driver’s strongest recorded sectors rather than one completed lap.

Why are some slow laps missing from the lap-time chart?

Valid timed laps more than approximately 15 seconds slower than the session benchmark are omitted from the visual timeline to keep the chart readable.