Outline:
The Evolution of Formula 1 Broadcasting
Lando Norris is on the verge of securing a crucial pole position as he exits Zandvoort’s penultimate corner. However, the situation changes rapidly when the airbox of another McLaren appears on the screen. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, manages to secure pole by what seems like inches, with a difference of just 0.012 seconds between victory and defeat. Thanks to Formula 1’s new ghost car tool, fans can now visually understand exactly what this small margin looks like.
In the tightest F1 grid ever seen, the Dutch GP qualifying session has become the norm rather than the exception in 2025. To help fans grasp these incredibly close margins, F1 has introduced an enhanced ghost car tool that uses GPS and timing data to overlay cars onto replays. This allows viewers to see where one driver loses time compared to another, how the best line through a corner affects performance, or how a lack of top speed impacts a driver on the straights.
Dean Locke, F1’s Director of Broadcast and Media, explained the importance of this tool: “In qualifying, we’re dealing with thousandths of a second that separate four cars. Being able to represent that visually and pictorially is incredibly difficult. It’s hard to understand just how amazing some of these laps are.”
A New Era of Visual Storytelling
F1 has experimented with the ghost car concept before, but the main challenge was achieving the necessary accuracy and delivering it quickly enough for post-qualifying broadcasts. The new bespoke application developed by F1’s team allows for faster processing and more accurate overlays. By integrating GPS data with video footage and cross-referencing it with onboard cameras, the team can correct any positioning issues as they go around the lap.
Despite the manual effort required, Locke believes AI will play a bigger role in the future. “The key part that makes it hard is the really accurate reference points. There is actually a tolerance of five percent in horizontal and vertical framing differences on the onboard camera angles. That seems small, but it makes such a difference when you’re trying to cross-reference data with it.”
The new feature, used regularly on F1 TV and social media channels, has been well received by fans and broadcasters alike. “There was a really strong reaction to it before the launch,” Locke said. “We discussed it with broadcast partners in advance, to the point of how best to deliver it to them. Sometimes it might not just be about P1 or P2, it could be the difference between P1 and P4 that is editorially relevant.”
Improving Efficiency and Accessibility
F1’s broadcast team is continuously looking for ways to improve efficiency, aiming to reduce the time it takes to process and deliver the ghost car tool. Currently, the process takes between 90 minutes to two hours, but the goal is to cut that down to 30 minutes after qualifying. “Latency is one of our biggest hurdles, so processing that data and then using it is a key operational part,” Locke added.
Providing visual aids to explain qualifying isn’t just beneficial for die-hard fans; it also helps make F1 more accessible to younger audiences. One example is the gamification of graphics, such as the heads-up display covering the halo, which looks like it was taken straight from an F1 video game.
“I can’t tell you what the reaction was when we told the TV director, he was about to have a graphic script through the centre of the picture output,” Locke chuckled. “It seemed an incredibly weird thing to do, but it ended up working out really well.”
Technology for the Right Reasons
FOM no longer offers linear outputs to broadcasters, instead allowing viewers to choose their favorite driver’s onboard camera and team radio streams. As F1 viewers become more discerning, Locke and his team are always looking for the next step to make broadcasting more engaging.
“The investment we’ve done into our Media and Technology Centre gives us a really agile approach,” Locke said. “Nearly every race we would be testing something, making improvements, or making us just more efficient. And with the number and frequency of races, and the off-season being really short, we have to do that throughout the season.”
While emerging technologies like AR and VR are important, Locke emphasized that F1 must avoid implementing technology for the sake of it. “It has to be enriching to our fans and tell the story.”
Future Innovations and Challenges
Working on Apple’s F1 Movie, which became a box office hit, gave FOM’s broadcast squad a new perspective. “Some of their systems are incredibly difficult to incorporate into a live broadcast, but there are some concepts and ideas that we took on board,” Locke said.
Looking ahead, the all-new technical regulations for 2026 will require additional explanations. With a focus on electric energy deployment and features like Manual Override Mode, F1 will need to adapt its broadcasting strategies. “We’re actively in workshops working around what data we will have and what stories we should be telling out of that data,” Locke concluded.
As F1 continues to evolve, the goal remains clear: to enhance the fan experience through innovative storytelling and cutting-edge technology.