Data availability and optional F1TV access
F1 Sensor works without F1TV Auth. Optional F1TV Auth can unlock extra live timing features during an active Formula 1 session while public live timing continues to work without a token.
Availability matrix
| Feature or data | Without F1TV Auth live | With F1TV Auth live | Replay Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track status, Safety Car, Race Control, weather | Works | Works | Works when replayed |
| Driver positions and timing | Works | Works | Works when replayed |
| Confirmed incident detection | Works | Works | Works when replayed |
| Early incident candidates from car movement | Not available | Can improve when live car movement data is available | Works when replay contains the needed data |
| Track Map | Not available live | Requires F1TV Auth and live car position data | Works when replay contains car position data |
| Incident location context | Not available from live position | Can improve when Track Map has fresh location data | Works when replay contains car position data |
| Pit Stops | Not available live | Can work when Formula 1 publishes live pit stop data | Works when replay contains pit stop data |
| Team Radio | Not available live | Can work when Formula 1 publishes live team radio clips | Works when replay contains team radio clips |
| Championship Prediction | Not available live | Can work when Formula 1 publishes live prediction data | Works when replay contains prediction data |
| Formation Start | Not available live | Requires authenticated car data for the formation-start marker | Works when the replay supports the formation-start marker |
How F1TV Auth changes live timing
F1 Sensor uses three separate timing modes:
| Mode | What it means | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Public live timing | Standard live mode without a token | Core live entities, dashboards, and conservative incident alerts continue to work |
| F1TV Auth live timing | Optional live mode with a paired F1TV token | Extra live features can become available when Formula 1 provides the data |
| Replay Mode | Historical playback from Formula 1's session archive | Some live-auth features can be replayed later from archived session data |
F1TV Auth is not required for the integration, schedules, static data, race control, public live timing, or Replay Mode. If a token is missing, expired, invalid, or rejected, F1 Sensor should fall back to public live timing and only the extra live-auth features should stop updating.
What works without F1TV Auth
Public live timing covers the normal live features most dashboards and automations use:
| Public live data | Examples |
|---|---|
| Session state | Current session, session status, session clocks, lap count |
| Track and race control | Track status, Safety Car, Race Control messages, track limits, investigations |
| Weather | Live trackside weather during active sessions |
| Driver timing | Driver list, positions, timing app data, tyres, tyre statistics, top three |
| Incident detection | Confirmed likely stopped-car or on-track incident alerts from public timing, Track Status, and Race Control context |
What F1TV Auth can add during live sessions
F1TV Auth can support live features such as Track Map, Pit Stops, Team Radio, Championship Prediction, formation start refinement, and earlier incident candidate signals. These features still depend on what Formula 1 publishes for each session, so an accepted token does not guarantee that every extra feature is available every time.
Subscription requirement
Use a Formula 1 account with access to the live timing features you need. Subscription names, entitlements and availability differ by country and can change. Check Formula 1’s current F1 TV plans for your region before subscribing; accepting a token does not guarantee that every data feed is published.
F1TV tokens are short-lived, and Formula 1 can vary which extra live data is published from session to session. Public live timing continues to work if F1TV access is missing, expired, invalid, or rejected.
Token Helper and renewal
The recommended way to connect F1TV Auth is the F1TV Token Helper. The helper reads a short-lived live timing token from your own browser session and sends it to your own Home Assistant pairing callback.
Home Assistant does not ask for your Formula 1 password. When your token contains a usable Formula 1 session, F1 Sensor automatically requests a replacement as the token enters its final 24 hours. Temporary connection failures are retried automatically. Your browser does not need to stay open.
The underlying session has an observed lifetime of about 30 days from the original Formula 1 sign-in. Replacing the short-lived token does not extend that session. Formula 1 can also revoke it earlier. When the session can no longer renew access, Home Assistant shows a repair that leads you back to Token Helper. Tokens without a usable session continue to use manual pairing.
The integration can check locally that a JWT is well-formed and unexpired. This does not prove that the token is authentic. F1TV access is confirmed only after Formula 1 accepts it during an upstream request.
For the practical setup workflow, see F1TV Auth Setup.
Privacy and safety
F1 Sensor stores only the authorization value needed for live timing. Diagnostics and public issue reports should never include tokens, full Authorization headers, cookies, callback URLs, nonce values, or browser session data.
The saved authorization value is part of the Home Assistant config entry and normally follows that entry into Home Assistant backups. Before sharing a backup, treat it as containing credentials. Use button.f1_clear_f1tv_access to remove the saved value and revoke the Formula 1 browser session if you suspect exposure.
Downloaded diagnostics can include redacted token health and live timing activity. They should not include secrets or high-frequency telemetry.
Limitations
- F1TV Auth is optional.
- Automatic renewal requires a usable session in the saved token. You still need Token Helper when that session expires or is revoked.
- Extra live features are available only during suitable live sessions when Formula 1 publishes the needed data.
- Live Track Map cannot be fully verified without an active session and a working token.
- Replay Mode is separate from live auth and can show archived data later when the replay archive contains it.