> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://offthepace.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What air was each driver running in, lap by lap?

> A lap-by-lap grid of the aerodynamic environment every driver experienced free air, dirty air, tow, or DRS train across a whole race.

The lap air map shows the aerodynamic story of a race as a grid: one row per driver, one cell per lap, coloured by the air they were running in. It makes the invisible visible where a driver was stuck in a competitor's wake, where they caught a tow, and where they sat in a DRS train unable to break free.

## What it shows

Each cell classifies one driver's lap into an air state:

* **Dirty air** (red): gap to the car ahead \< 1.5s in the middle-third sector. Thermally loaded air disrupts downforce and overheats the tyres.
* **Tow zone** (green): gap \< 1.0s on a straight sector without active DRS slipstream benefit without full aerodynamic interference.
* **DRS train** (amber): gap \< 1.0s with DRS active a speed benefit but still constrained by the car ahead.
* **Free air** (grey): gap > 2.0s or gap unavailable clean conditions, the baseline.

Drivers are sorted by total dirty-air laps (most affected first); lap numbers run left to right.

<Note>
  Gap estimates are telemetry-derived. Laps with missing telemetry are shown as free-air (grey), so a grey cell can mean clean air *or* absent data read it alongside the dirty-air totals.
</Note>

## How to use it

1. **Select a race** from the filter bar; the grid loads with drivers ranked by traffic exposure.
2. **Scan a driver's row** to see their race shape long red runs are extended stints in traffic.
3. **Look for amber blocks** to spot DRS trains where nobody could pass.
4. **Hover a cell** for the thermal-load index and the closest gap reading on that lap.

## Reading the signal correctly

The air state is a **gap-and-sector heuristic**, not a wind-tunnel reading a 1.5s gap is the threshold, so a driver hovering just outside it reads as free air despite some wake. The map shows *exposure*, which is mostly driven by track position, not driver choice.

<Warning>
  Because missing telemetry defaults to grey, a driver with sparse telemetry can look like they ran in clean air all race. Cross-check with the [dirty air cost](/app/dirty-air-cost) leaderboard, which only taxes laps with a valid gap.
</Warning>

## Data source

The chart queries `int_lap_air_state` via DuckDB-Wasm in the browser, for a single race.

| Column               | Meaning                                                          |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `air_state`          | The lap's classification: dirty air / tow / DRS train / free air |
| `gap_to_ahead_s`     | Closest gap reading used for classification                      |
| `thermal_load_index` | Estimated thermal load from the wake (cell hover)                |

This is a **single-race** view across **2018–2024** data.

For the full model definition, see the [`int_lap_air_state` reference](/reference/models/int/int_lap_air_state).