I built a compact F1 marshal LED panel simulator using an ESP8266 (ESP-01) and a WS2812B 8×8 LED matrix connected to Home Assistant. The panel automatically displays live Formula 1 track status from the sensor.f1_session_track_status and reacts similarly to real marshal panels used around F1 circuits.

Supported modes include CLEAR, YELLOW, RED, SC (Safety Car), and VSC (Virtual Safety Car), each with custom LED animations and effects. Additional features include a startup animation, adjustable brightness (10–70%) through Home Assistant, automatic shutdown if data is lost for 30 seconds, and manual test buttons for all effects.

The firmware is written in ESPHome using addressable_lambda for per-LED control. Source code:
https://github.com/SimovicTV/F1-Marshal-Panel/tree/main