For my Tool Takeover, I decided to create a history of Formula One through its circuits using StoryMap JS.
This idea came from my final project in Dr. Gorn’s Public History as Writing Class from last semester. One of my personal interests is in Formula One and I wanted to explore the history of the sport. I wrote an article intended for a more casual audience about the Formula One drivers union, the Grand Prix Drivers Association or the GPDA for short. Several of the races and events I mention in the map I originally wrote about in my article. These were the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix, the 1976 German Grand Prix, the 1982 South African Grand Prix, the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, and the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
I see this map as a bit of an extension of that. Location has always been an important part of F1 history, especially how the sport is influenced by the politics of the places it travels to.
Another reason for undertaking this project is because I would love some more historical examination of the sport. The FIA, the governing body of the sport is working on digitizing its archives which would provide some amazing primary sources for studying this type of history. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the archive will be available anytime soon, as the website says the digital library will be public in 2024. It’s the end of 2025 and there’s only a beta version only accessible to club members.
To build this project, I went back to my GPDA article I wrote for Dr. Gorn’s class and added the locations in order. I then added a few races and tracks that I felt added to the history of the sport. This way, I could present a narrative about how the sport has changed over time in regards to safety and what countries the championship travels to. I relied primarily on the narrative text function, the images and videos were to add visuals, but I think it’s a good way to implement primary sources.
The thing about StoryMap is that it requires a very clear cut narrative and it’s harder for people to explore the map on their own. For me personally, I like to do some of my own digging and poking around on the map and look for what interests me the most.
I feel ok with my project. I neither love nor hate it. I like the platform for the most part, I think it’s an interesting way of presenting historical narratives. If I were to continue this project, I think it would be interesting to try and trace the narrative over an entire season. I could talk more about why races are hosted in specific countries as well as tell a clear narrative with clear geographical points. Or I could expand further by adding more places. For example, I could try having a story for every country that has hosted a race and go into the history behind why. Location is so important to a lot of F1 history, and I think a map based tool is a good way to illustrate this history.
I also wish there was a better way to visualize change over time. I feel like adding a timeline feature could be helpful where a user can scroll and see what races were on the calendar in the 1950s versus the 2020s. The 1950s would show most races were concentrated in Europe while a map from the 2020s would show a much more global championship. Instead, you just see all of the points on the map at the first slide of the project where it doesn’t really capture the full picture of how the sport has changed over time.
Overall, I liked using the StoryMap platform even though I’m not entirely satisfied with the project. I see the potential to do more with it in the future, perhaps.
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