> ## 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.

# Quickstart: ingest your first race

> Zero to a verified race on disk in five minutes: install, ingest one session, verify, and explore it lap by lap.

Ingestion needs no credentials and no cloud account a single Python process talks to FastF1, runs it through the data-quality gate, and writes Hive-partitioned Parquet to `data/bronze/`. This page takes you from a clean clone to one verified race on disk.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install dependencies">
    From the project root, `make setup` creates a virtual environment and installs every Python dependency the pipeline needs ingestion included.

    ```bash theme={null}
    make setup
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ingest one race">
    Pull a single session straight from FastF1. The first race of the 2024 season is a good test case small enough to finish in a couple of minutes.

    <CodeGroup>
      ```bash Single race theme={null}
      python ingestion/src/ingest.py --season 2024 --round 1 --session R
      ```

      ```bash Recent seasons theme={null}
      make ingest-recent   # 2023–2024, ~15 min, ~200 MB
      ```

      ```bash Full backfill theme={null}
      make ingest-all   # 2018–2024, 30–45 min, ~2 GB
      ```
    </CodeGroup>

    A single race writes laps, telemetry, weather, and race-control data under `data/bronze/<dataset>/season=2024/race=bahrain_grand_prix/`. Expect output like this (exact lap counts vary by race):

    ```text theme={null}
    Ingestion run 20240315T091500Z: 2024–2024 | sessions=R | force=False | skip_telemetry=False | telemetry_full=False
    Bronze: /path/to/off-the-pace/data/bronze
    === Season 2024 Rd1 ===
      [PULL] R  2024 Rd1 bahrain_grand_prix
      [OK]   R  2024 Rd1 bahrain_grand_prix   57 laps
    === COMPLETE: 1 sessions newly written ===
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify what landed">
    Confirm the race passed every integrity check row counts, null rates, duplicate keys, required columns.

    ```bash theme={null}
    make verify-bronze
    ```

    `verify_bronze.py` only checks seasons present on disk, so this works identically after a single-race pull, `make ingest-recent`, or a full backfill.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Explore it lap by lap">
    Replay the race you just ingested to see the data move, without writing any SQL.

    ```bash theme={null}
    python ingestion/src/replay_simulator.py \
      --parquet_path data/bronze/laps/season=2024/race=bahrain_grand_prix/2024_bahrain_grand_prix_laps.parquet \
      --race_id 2024_1 \
      --speed 10 \
      --dry_run
    ```

    See [Replay](/ingestion/replay) for what `--dry_run` does and why it's the working invocation today.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Check>
  You now have a verified, partitioned Bronze race on disk ready for the transform layer to build on.
</Check>

## Next

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Choose your scope" icon="filter" href="/ingestion/data-scope">
    Pick the right amount of data to pull for what you're building.
  </Card>

  <Card title="CLI reference" icon="terminal" href="/ingestion/cli">
    Every `ingest.py` flag, with the *why* and *when*.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bronze schemas" icon="database" href="/reference/data-schemas">
    What's actually in the Parquet files you just wrote.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>