Installation

Requirements

Python: 3.11 or higher
OS: Windows, macOS, or Linux

Quick Install

Choose a package manager

tif1 is available on PyPI. Install it with a package manager.

pip install tif1

uv add tif1

poetry add tif1

Install the optional extras

Add the polars extra for the Polars backend.

pip install tif1[polars]

uv add tif1[polars]

poetry add tif1[polars]

Verify the installation

Run this check to confirm that the installation works:

import tif1
print(f"tif1 version: {tif1.__version__}")
print(f"2025 Events: {len(tif1.get_events(2025))}")

Configuration

Environment Variables

Configure tif1 with environment variables. They are useful in CI/CD environments.

Variable	Description	Default
`TIF1_CACHE_DIR`	Path to the cache directory	OS-dependent (see below)
`TIF1_LIB`	Default data lib (`pandas` or `polars`)	`pandas`
`TIF1_ENABLE_CACHE`	Enable or disable caching (`true`/`false`)	`true`
`TIF1_ULTRA_COLD_START`	Enable ultra-low latency mode	`false`

The default cache directory follows the FastF1 platform layout. It uses tif1 as the application directory:

Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%/Temp/tif1
macOS: ~/Library/Caches/tif1
Linux and other POSIX systems: ~/.cache/tif1 when ~/.cache exists, otherwise ~/.tif1

Set TIF1_CACHE_DIR, or set cache_dir in .tif1rc, to override the default.

Config File (.tif1rc)

For permanent settings, create a .tif1rc (JSON) file in the home directory:

{
  "lib": "polars",
  "max_retries": 5,
  "enable_cache": true
}

Advanced Troubleshooting

HTTP/2 SSL Errors

tif1 uses niquests for HTTP/2 support. If SSL errors occur, update the system openssl version. Also check that the certificate store has a correct configuration.

SQLite Database Locking

“Database is locked” errors show that multiple processes write to the cache at the same time. tif1 uses WAL mode to reduce this problem. Very high concurrency on slow disks can still trigger the error.

Polars Version Mismatch

Use polars>=1.40.1 to avoid compatibility issues with the tif1 categorical optimization.

The Polars lib can reduce memory usage by up to 50% during full race telemetry processing.

Quickstart

Start using tif1

Configuration

Configure tif1

Troubleshooting

Solve common issues

Environment Variables

Configure with environment variables

Get Started

Guides

Concepts

Reference

Installation

Requirements

Quick Install

Configuration

Environment Variables

Config File (.tif1rc)

Advanced Troubleshooting

Quickstart

Configuration

Troubleshooting

Environment Variables

​Requirements

​Quick Install

​Configuration

​Environment Variables

​Config File (.tif1rc)

​Advanced Troubleshooting

​Related Pages

Quickstart

Configuration

Troubleshooting

Environment Variables

Requirements

Quick Install

Configuration

Environment Variables

Config File (.tif1rc)

Advanced Troubleshooting

Related Pages