For neurodivergent fans

The race, one sentence at a time.

A broadcast is a timing tower, a lap counter, three graphics, two commentators and a radio clip, all at once, for two hours. This is the same race with everything taken away except what happened.

Who this is for

Silverstone told BBC Sport in July 2026 that neurodivergent fans now make up at least 20% of all applications for accessibility tickets, and that the circuit has added a sensory room, a quiet viewing area at Copse and 120 extra volunteers to cope. The appetite is there. What has not existed is a way to follow the race itself that does not assume you can take in ten things at once.

This page is for autistic and ADHD fans, for anyone with a sensory processing difference, for anyone who finds the broadcast a barrage, and for the parent trying to make race day work for a child who loves the cars and cannot bear the screen. It was not designed as a separate mode. The whole app works this way, because its first audience cannot look at the screen either.

Source: BBC Sport, “Formula 1 and my autistic son — navigating noise, crowds and chaos”, 6 July 2026

Less, on purpose

The app decides what to say the way a good friend at the pub does. Every event gets a score for how much it matters: a pass for the lead scores far above a pass for sixteenth. Then a pace budget lets through only as many sentences as your setting allows. On “only the big moments” a quiet lap is silent, and the safety car still interrupts. Small position shuffles that net to nothing are never said at all.

Each sentence is plain. “Lap 51. Pérez retires from 13th.” No abbreviations, no driver numbers, no sector times unless you ask for them. A pit stop is explained rather than announced: how many laps that set of tyres had run, where the car rejoined, and whether the tyres are fresher than the car ahead.

Calm mode

One switch in Settings. Nothing on the page moves: the flag banner stops breathing, new captions stop sliding in, the start lights on the front page stay dark. The narration drops to the big moments. You can turn the words back up afterwards and keep the stillness.

Nothing in the app flashes in any mode, and the vibration patterns soften on their own when your phone asks for reduced motion.

Know what is coming

The front page lists this weekend’s sessions with their times, so there are no surprises about when things start. Join a race late and a short spoken summary catches you up before the live feed continues. Follow one driver and the rest of the field gets quieter. Every finished race replays at the speed you choose and stops when you press Space, which is the thing a live broadcast will never let you do.

At the circuit

The noise at a Grand Prix is the whole point for some fans and the whole problem for others. With ear defenders on, the PA and the commentary are gone. On a Wear OS watch, the race comes through the wrist instead: a sharp buzz for an overtake, a building ramp for the safety car, and a pulse that quickens as your driver comes round to where you stand. You keep the defenders on and still know what just happened.

Questions

Is there a way to follow F1 without the information overload?

Yes. RaceSonar turns the race into one plain sentence per event and lets you choose how many: only the big moments, the story, or everything. Calm mode switches off every animation and pulse. Free, in the browser.

Can I pause a race?

A live session cannot be paused, but a finished one can: every race and sprint since 2023 replays at the speed you set, and stops when you press Space.

Does it help at the circuit?

On a Wear OS watch, the race arrives as vibration on your wrist. You can keep ear defenders on and still know an overtake or a safety car just happened.

Try it

Open the player Or replay a past race