If you’re a fan of Formula One, be it a die hard like me watching every session, or tuning in for the races now and then – there’s a big chance you’ve glanced at the timing board to see the gap between two cars, wondering about tyre life and trying to work out whether a pit stop could get Oscar ahead of Lando for once.

That’s part of being an F1 fan. There’s the racing you can see, and the strategy you’re trying to follow while it all unfolds.

You have probably noticed many of the time or strategy based graphics show a “powered by AWS” on the screen during the broadcast, and I’ve been watching those evolve over the recent years and even during this very season.

I first started paying more attention to these more detailed stats after spending a day with AWS at the Melbourne race earlier this year where I learned just how big this tech race really is.

Behind those cars, and some of the graphics helping explain what’s happening, is an extraordinary amount of technology. And an equally extraordinary amount of data.

According to Amazon Web Services, or AWS, each Formula One car has around 300 sensors, generating 1.1 million data points every second. Per car.

Think about that for a moment. While we’re watching a driver throw a car through a corner, sensors are recording what’s happening in remarkable detail. Steering position, gear changes and other telemetry help describe what the car is doing, alongside timing and information about where it is on the track.

For the teams, understanding their cars is fundamental to performance. For AWS and Formula One, there’s also a huge opportunity to use data to help us understand the race.

“So data helps us tell a story about what is unfolding and what may actually even be coming up,” an AWS spokesperson told EFTM.

That’s where it gets interesting for those of us watching from the couch.

Making sense of the undercut

We all know a quick pit stop can make a difference. But working out whether a driver will emerge ahead of a rival involves far more than how quickly four tyres are changed.

How fast are they going on their current tyres? How much time will they lose in the pit lane? What could they gain on fresh rubber?

AWS-powered F1 Insights helps turn that sort of information into graphics that explain the possibilities to viewers.

Pit Strategy Battle combines live race data with historical information, including timing, tyres and weather, to help predict the impact of a stop.

It gives you a way to follow the strategy before the cars arrive at the same corner and the result becomes obvious.

Of course, it’s a prediction. A slow stop, traffic or a changing race can still make a mess of the plan. That uncertainty is a big part of why we watch.

And the teams are making their own decisions. The purpose of these broadcast insights is to give fans a clearer view of the battle.

Where drivers find the time

A lap time tells you who was quicker. The more interesting question is often where they found it.

One car might be stronger through the corners while another has an advantage on the straights. Looking at the whole lap as a single number can hide those differences.

Insights such as Track Dominance help show where drivers have an advantage around the circuit, while telemetry comparisons can put speed, braking and acceleration alongside each other.

For anyone who has watched two closely matched drivers trade fastest sectors, that adds useful context.

It also helps explain a mistake. A lock-up might look dramatic on television, but measuring the time lost gives us a better understanding of what it has actually cost the driver.

Finding the action

There’s another challenge with Formula One: something can be happening almost anywhere on the circuit.

The leader might have a comfortable gap while a much better fight is developing further down the field. Producers have to decide what deserves our attention, often while several things are happening at once.

AWS’s Track Pulse brings together information including timing, sensor data, team radio and race-control messages to help identify developing stories for the production team.

That can mean a battle getting closer, a change in pace or something happening with tyres.

As an AWS spokesperson told EFTM, “it helps the producers identify those key moments to be able to bring the broadcast to the fans.”

The human production team still decides what we see. The technology helps them find the moments worth showing.

The scale of an F1 weekend

Then there’s the enormous operation required to get all of this racing onto our screens.

Formula One says around 500 terabytes of data is transferred each race weekend from its trackside Event Technical Centre to its Media & Technology Centre at Biggin Hill in the UK.

That figure relates to the broadcast and remote-production operation. It’s separate from the 1.1 million telemetry points per second coming from each car.

Still, it gives you some idea of the scale involved in producing the sport we settle in to watch.

For the average fan, the useful part of all this technology is pretty straightforward. We get a better explanation of why a driver is gaining, what a pit stop might achieve and where the next battle could happen.

If you’re staying up half the night to watch a Grand Prix, that extra understanding makes the race all the more enjoyable.

Mexico this weekend folks, the Championship should go to Kimi – we’re witnessing history – and it’s all being recorded by data and a lot of it!