Dynamo LED Displays designed, supplied and installed a modular LED ticker for Formula 1 that travels to almost every round of the championship. Housed in a purpose-built Rolex-branded enclosure, the ticker is reassembled at each circuit and shows a live feed of driver positions and timing during qualifying and the race.
Updated September 2026: project facts checked against the original 2017 install record; specification guidance, related ticker projects and FAQ sections added.
The Formula 1 LED ticker at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Client | Formula 1 trackside timing display |
| Application | Live positions and timing for spectators during qualifying and the race |
| Format | Modular LED ticker, shipped between rounds and rebuilt at each circuit |
| Enclosure | Purpose-built Rolex-branded housing with a central clock |
| Content | Live video feed of the timing graphics: position, driver code and gap |
| Deployment | Travels to nearly all Grand Prix events worldwide |
| Pictured | Trackside at the Hungarian Grand Prix |
| Case study first published | February 2017 |
What the F1 ticker shows
The ticker takes a live video feed of the official timing output and runs it as a single scrolling strip. Spectators in the grandstand opposite see each car’s position, the three-letter driver code and the gap to the car ahead, exactly as the timing system reports it. In the photo above, taken at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the strip is showing positions 15 and 16 with a one-lap gap to the leader.
Because the ticker is fed video rather than a text file, the graphics on the strip stay in step with the broadcast and the giant screens around the circuit. There is no separate data integration to maintain at each venue: plug in the feed, check the picture and the ticker is live.
Built to travel: a modular ticker rebuilt at every circuit
A ticker that follows the championship cannot be a fixed installation. Dynamo built this one as a set of modular LED sections that ship between rounds and are rebuilt on site at each circuit, inside the Rolex enclosure that sits above the strip. The enclosure and the ticker were designed together so the modules drop into the same positions every time and the joins between sections stay invisible from the stands.
That modular approach is the same one we use on our bespoke LED display projects in the UK: standard LED modules inside a custom housing, with the cabinet joins and corners engineered so the text scrolls across them without a visible break.
Specifying a travelling LED ticker: what matters
A trackside ticker works in direct sunlight, in rain, and on a structure that gets dismantled and rebuilt many times a season. Four things decide whether it holds up.
- Brightness. Outdoor text has to read against daylight. Our outdoor cabinets are rated from about 3,500 to 8,000 nits depending on pitch, against roughly 800 nits for an indoor ticker. See our outdoor LED displays range for the current options.
- Weather protection. Outdoor cabinets carry an IP65 front rating so rain, dust and pressure washing at the circuit do not get to the LEDs or the electronics.
- Modular joins. Text scrolls across every cabinet join, so the joins have to be pixel-accurate after every rebuild. Locating pins and a rigid enclosure matter more here than on a fixed wall.
- Feed and control. A video-fed ticker mirrors the official graphics; a data-fed ticker runs its own software and can show prices, RSS feeds or messages. Decide which you need before the enclosure is designed, because the processing hardware is different.
Other Dynamo LED ticker projects
The Formula 1 ticker is one of a series of long-format tickers Dynamo has built for very different environments. At Bob Bob Cité in the Leadenhall Building the ticker runs for 75 metres in three sections of 21, 35 and 21 metres, with seamless 90-degree corners so the restaurant’s custom-font menu scrolls round the building front without a gap. At PIMCO in London we replaced a faulty ticker with an 80-metre U-shaped display around the trading floor, installed over two evenings, with remote diagnostics for temperature, power and receiving status. A 25-metre ticker for an FX trading floor integrates with the client’s CRM and live price feeds.
The most recent is the circular halo ticker at AutoTrader Manchester HQ, part of a five-zone installation that is a finalist in the AV Awards 2026. Fixed or travelling, straight or curved, the engineering questions are the same ones listed above. Our LED tickers page covers the standard formats.
Formula 1 LED Ticker: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the F1 ticker?
In this case study the F1 ticker is a modular LED ticker display that Dynamo LED Displays built for Formula 1. It sits in a purpose-built Rolex-branded enclosure at the circuit and shows a live feed of driver positions and timing during qualifying and the race. It is shipped between rounds and rebuilt at each venue rather than being permanently installed.
Is the F1 ticker a stock ticker?
No. This page is about a physical LED ticker display used at Grand Prix circuits, not a stock-market ticker symbol. If you are looking for share-price information on the company that runs Formula 1, a financial data provider is the right source. Dynamo does build stock and price tickers for trading floors, such as the 80-metre PIMCO ticker linked above.
How does a trackside LED ticker get live timing data?
The Formula 1 ticker takes a live video feed of the official timing graphics and displays it directly, so what spectators see matches the broadcast output. The alternative is a data-fed ticker running its own software, which pulls text from a CRM, price feed or RSS source and formats it on the strip. Each needs different processing hardware.
Can an LED ticker be moved between venues?
Yes, if it is designed that way from the start. The Formula 1 ticker is built from modular LED sections that ship between rounds and are rebuilt at each circuit inside the same enclosure. The enclosure locates every module in the same position each time, so the joins between sections stay invisible from the grandstand after every rebuild.
How bright does an outdoor LED ticker need to be?
Bright enough to read in direct sunlight. Dynamo’s outdoor LED cabinets are rated from about 3,500 nits up to 8,000 nits depending on the pixel pitch, and carry an IP65 front rating for rain and dust. An indoor ticker on a trading floor or in a restaurant typically runs at around 800 nits, which would wash out at a circuit.
Who makes custom LED tickers in the UK?
Dynamo LED Displays designs, supplies and installs custom LED tickers from London, including the travelling Formula 1 ticker, the 75-metre Bob Bob Cité ticker, the 80-metre PIMCO trading-floor ticker and the halo ticker at AutoTrader Manchester HQ. Tickers can be straight, curved, circular or built into a bespoke enclosure, indoors or outdoors.
Get a quote for a custom LED ticker. Tell us the length, indoor or outdoor, and what the ticker needs to show and we will come back with a specification and price: contact Dynamo LED Displays or call 020 3489 9878.
This is one of our bespoke LED display projects — see our full custom and bespoke LED display capability for similar work.
