On the final day of Dashboard Week, we were presented with a surprising dataset on Formula One racing, a sport that many of us were unfamiliar with. Although working with an unknown subject was daunting, we were excited to adapt and uncover insights.
Based on my experience from the previous four days of Dashboard Week, I knew that timeboxing was crucial. With limited knowledge of car racing, I chose to explore the career of Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion and one of the greatest drivers of all time. By analyzing his race finishes, qualifying times, and points earned for each season, I aimed to examine his performance over time.
Since the datasets were clean, I immediately started using Tableau for visualization.
One of my most striking findings was that Hamilton has been incredibly consistent throughout his career. He has placed in the top three in the drivers’ championship every season since 2014 and has only finished outside the top three twice in his entire career. While his performance has varied from season to season, he has remained a strong contender.
Nonetheless, some seasons stood out for Hamilton. His best season was arguably in 2018, where he won 11 races and finished with 408 points, over 80 points ahead of his nearest competitor. Conversely, his worst season was in 2011, where he finished fifth in the championship and only won three races. Here is my final dashboard:
Overall, analyzing Lewis Hamilton’s career in Formula One enabled me to acquire valuable insights into a new sport while also honing my data analysis skills. It was a challenging task to work with an unfamiliar dataset, but it also demonstrated the potency of data in uncovering patterns and insights in any domain. With that, we conclude Dashboard Week – a demanding yet rewarding week for any data enthusiast, and I am glad to say that we have all emerged victorious!