Formula 1: Analyzing the Grand Prix for the Imola Circuit
Case study
Understanding the attendance and mobility behaviour of the public during the Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend in Imola.
THE PROJECT
As the first European stage of the 2022 Formula 1 season, more than 100k supporters joined the over the weekend. These historic Italian circuit was recently reintroduced as a regular stage in the world’s most famous racing championship. Fans from all over the world came to attend the race. Such a great interest in the event stemmed also from the previous two editions, where supporters couldn’t access the facility due to the pandemic restrictions.
2022
IMOLA (BO) – Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari
PRESENCE/MOBILITY
Motion Analytica was chosen in this important occasion to analyse the behaviour of participants, and to study their mobility patterns before, during, and after the race. Moreover, additional analyses on the touristic behaviours of attendants provided a deep understanding of the event’s impact within the surrounding territory.
The analyses provided an exhaustive overview of several aspects, supporting useful insights to help improve the quality of the experience that will be offered in future events.
DATA SOURCES
01.
Telco Data
Anonymized smartphone data provided by Vodafone Italia.
02.
Proprietary Data
Number of tickets and additional information provided by the Circuit management.
03.
Others
Public data on mobility, traffic, and weather.
THE ANALYSIS
To correctly comprehend the heterogeneity of the public, Motion Analytica firstly concentrated the research on segmenting visitors based on their attendance behaviour. One initial step was to understand who visited the facility frequently, and who, instead, came exclusively for this event.
The latest were then divided in two main groups (tourists and visitors) depending on their choise to spend the night in the area or not.
Once the attendance patterns were identified, it was possible to analyse their provenance, and to create a accurate “interest-map” describing the distribution of the origins of the fans.
Next, the social and economic impact on the territory was investigated. Multiple analyses were carried out to understand which were the most visited locations (besides the circuit), detect common attributes in the distribution of nights spent, and compare the attraction of multiple points of interest.
Participants’ co-visits and dwell time were also taken into consideration to assess which were the mobility infrastructures mostly chosen, what level of pressure they were asked to sustain, and what services and logistic improvement might be needed for future events.
MAIN RESULTS
By using the telco-geospatial information and sophisticated Data Analytics and AI algorithms, it has been possible to extract numerous valuable information regarding Imola circuit’s attendance and study fans overall mobility patterns.
For what regard presences, we the quantified the predictable increase of spectators during the 3-days event, with the biggest number of fans registered on Sunday, day of the race. By comparing visitation trends and attendances, it was then possible to precisely outline some characteristics relating to supporters, both of a demographic nature and regarding their touristic behaviour.
For instance, the final race attracted a significant influx of foreigners, characterized by a high participation of European tourists, but with a marked increase also in American spectators. Such analyses were particularly useful for mapping the interest in the event on an international scale and discover the specific multimodal mobility choices undertaken.
As a result of such a remarkable influx of tourists, both Italian and foreign, it was also interesting to identify which cities and areas were mostly affected by the event. For hospitality activities, for example, the most popular destinations in the surrounding regional area were Bologna, Ravenna, Forlì-Cesena, and Rimini.
From an organizational standpoint, it was useful to discover the different patterns of arrival and departure from the racetrack depending on the spectator profiles. Such organizational insights helped to grasp customer needs and support future logistic improvements.
CONCLUSIONI
Overall, the project not only confirmed the substantial interest for the event within the adjacent areas, but also highlighted a broad endorsement from remote countries as well. The public was segmented using multiple metrics to deeply understand the different trends and behaviours. Additionally, the numerous analyses undertaken helped portray the social and economic impact of the sport event on the territory.
All the information gathered will be fundamental in supporting an efficient investment strategy, able at improving the future Gran Prix editions and the overall customer experience.