F1 Elo

Championship points are great for ranking drivers within a single season, but they change format regularly and can't compare across decades. Elo ratings solve this: every driver starts at the same baseline, and ratings adjust after each race based on head-to-head pairwise comparisons against every other finisher.

A race win against strong opponents earns more than a win against weaker fields, and vice versa. The result is a number that rises when a driver outperforms expectations and falls when they underperform—regardless of era, car advantage, or points system.

You may notice the accent color of this site shifts as you navigate. Each page is tinted with the constructor color of the relevant driver or team.

This creates a subtle sense of immersion: browsing Ferrari history feels red, reviewing a Mercedes-dominant era shifts to teal, and exploring classic Lotus seasons turns green.

Since around 1996, Formula 1 has had more standardised regulations, consistent race formats, and richer data. Many of our badges and statistical comparisons focus on this “modern era” to keep things fair.

Built with Rails 7, PostgreSQL, and Bootstrap 5. Elo ratings are computed from pairwise head-to-head comparisons across every race finisher. The full source code is available on GitHub.

This is an independent fan project and is not associated with or endorsed by Formula One Group, FIA, or any F1 team or driver.

F1, Formula 1, Formula One, and related marks are trademarks of Formula One Licensing BV. Team names and logos are trademarks of their respective owners. Driver images and team logos courtesy of formula1.com. Race data sourced from the Ergast/Jolpica API.

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