Formula 1 2008 — Driver and Constructor Analysis

Python analysis of an educational Formula 1 dataset, developed during the Python Programming course of the ProfessionAI Master in Data Analytics.

Project overview

The project uses race results to analyze individual driver performance and generate driver and constructor standings.

It demonstrates data loading, functions, dictionaries, user input validation, aggregation, sorting, and text file export.

Dataset

The dataset provided for the assignment contains 180 records, covering 10 drivers and 6 teams.

Each record includes:

Column	Description
Driver	Driver surname
Team	Constructor name
Race	Race location
Country	Host country
Position	Points-paying finishing position, or 0

Position 0 means that the driver finished outside the points-paying top eight. It does not specify the exact finishing position or whether the driver retired.

Dataset source: ProfessionAI — Formula 1 CSV

Scoring system

Position	Points
1	10
2	8
3	6
4	5
5	4
6	3
7	2
8	1
0	0

The dataset is loaded once, and points are calculated once for reuse across all analyses. Unexpected position values raise an error.

Features

Individual driver analysis

The interactive interface lists the available drivers and lets the user select a surname.

The analyze_driver() function returns:

• Total points.
• Number of wins.
• Number of podium finishes.

Users can analyze multiple drivers in the same session.

Driver standings

The create_driver_standings() function:

• Calculates total points for every driver.
• Returns a dictionary sorted by descending points.
• Displays the standings.
• Exports them to Drivers_Standings_2008.txt.

Google Colab then initiates the download of the text file.

Constructor standings

The create_constructor_standings() function aggregates points by team and returns a dictionary sorted by descending points.

Consistency checks

Final checks confirm that the driver standings and constructor standings both account for the total points in the dataset.

Selected results

Results calculated from the supplied dataset:

Driver	Points
Hamilton	98
Massa	97
Raikkonen	75
Kubica	75

Constructor	Points
Ferrari	172
McLaren	151
BMW	135

Both standings account for 610 total points.

How to run

1. Download formula1_data_portfolio.ipynb from this repository.
2. Open Google Colab and upload the notebook.
3. Run the cells in order.
4. Enter a driver surname exactly as shown in the available drivers list.
5. Answer no after an analysis, or enter quit at the driver prompt, to finish the interactive session.
6. Run the remaining cells to generate the standings, download the text file, and perform the consistency checks.

An internet connection is required to load the dataset.

The notebook is designed for Google Colab and uses google.colab.files for downloading the exported standings.

Scope and limitations

• The supplied dataset covers a subset of participants. Results do not represent the complete official championship standings.
• Equal point totals retain the order of first appearance in the dataset. Official championship tie-breaking rules are not implemented.
• The consistency checks verify point reconciliation; they do not independently establish the historical accuracy or completeness of the source data.

Tools

• Python
• Pandas
• Google Colab

Author

Claudio Lombardi

GitHub profile