get_session

fastf1.get_session(year, gp, identifier=None, *, backend=None, force_ergast=False)

Create a Session object based on year, event name and session identifier.

Note

This function will return a Session object, but it will not load any session specific data like lap timing, telemetry, … yet. For this, you will need to call load() on the returned object.

To get a testing session, use get_testing_session().

Examples

Get the second free practice of the first race of 2021 by its session name abbreviation:

>>> get_session(2021, 1, 'FP2')

Get the qualifying of the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix by full session name:

>>> get_session(2020, 'Austria', 'Qualifying')

Get the 3rd session of the 5th Grand Prix in 2021:

>>> get_session(2021, 5, 3)

Parameters:

• year (int) – Championship year

• gp (Union[str, int]) –

  Name as str or round number as int. If gp is a string, a fuzzy match will be performed on all events and the closest match will be selected. Fuzzy matching uses country, location, name and officialName of each event as reference.

  Some examples that will be correctly interpreted: ‘bahrain’, ‘australia’, ‘abudabi’, ‘monza’.

• identifier (Union[int, str, None]) – session name, abbreviation or number, see Session identifiers

• backend (Optional[Literal['fastf1', 'f1timing', 'ergast']]) –

  select a specific backend as data source, options: - 'fastf1': FastF1’s own backend, full support for 2018 to now

  • 'f1timing': uses data from the F1 live timing API, sessions for which no timing data is available are not listed (supports 2018 to now)

  • 'ergast': uses data from Ergast, no local times are available, no information about availability of f1 timing data is available (supports 1950 to now)

  When no backend is specified, 'fastf1' is used as a default and the other backends are used as a fallback in case the default is not available.

  For seasons older than 2018 'ergast' is always used.

• force_ergast (bool) – [Deprecated, use backend='ergast'] Always use data from the ergast database to create the event schedule

Return type:

Session