F1 Lembretes: Formula 1 reminders on WhatsApp.

The context

Following Formula 1 from Brazil means dealing with sessions spread across time zones: practice at dawn, qualifying mid-afternoon, races at times that change every Grand Prix. Existing apps alert too late, in another time zone or require yet another app. WhatsApp, which everyone already opens, was the natural place for the alert.

The goal

Get a WhatsApp alert for every session of the season, in advance and in Brasília time, with no risk of a wrong time and without anyone having to remember to send the message.

What was built

• Automatic official calendar: every day the system queries the Jolpica-F1 API (successor to Ergast), updates all session times and picks up next year's calendar as soon as it is published. No artificial intelligence in the timing path, so there is no risk of made-up data.
• Alert queue running every minute, with a lock so the same message is never sent twice and stale alerts discarded if the server goes down.
• WhatsApp delivery via Evolution API to the subscribers group: one send per alert, 1 day, 3 hours and 30 minutes ahead.
• Public pages with the podium of the latest race, the season calendar, race, qualifying and sprint results, and driver and constructor standings.
• Account sign-up: WhatsApp number, password and a confirmation code sent on WhatsApp, with the option to remember the device for 7 days.
• Admin dashboard with two-step login (password and WhatsApp code), subscriber management and alert settings.
• Installable app on the phone (PWA), with a collapsible sidebar on desktop.

Security

Argon2id passwords, one-time codes valid for 5 minutes, CSRF and brute-force protection, secrets outside the public folder and no form resubmission on page reload.

Result

The system went live on July 10, 2026 and, within two weeks, gained results, standings, public pages, subscribers and user accounts. The synced 2026 calendar has 23 Grands Prix and 119 sessions with automatic alerts.