Formula 1 is one of the most popular motorsport series in the world. Its fan base continues to grow year after year and has firmly entered mainstream culture, especially since the release of the Netflix series “Drive to Survive.”
If you’re a complete F1 newbie, this article will guide you through everything you need to know about the pinnacle of motorsport.
This is the 2024 driver line-up:
Race weekends officially start on Thursday with press conferences, track walks, and internal team meetings.
Friday features two free practice sessions — one in the morning and one later in the afternoon.
Teams use these sessions to understand how the car behaves on the track under different conditions such as track temperature, surface grip, tire wear, and fuel loads.
Countless settings are tested, and a huge amount of data is collected. These data points are analyzed back at the factory, where different strategies are simulated and fine-tuned using driver simulators.
Saturday begins with a third and final practice session, followed by qualifying in the afternoon.
During Friday practice, teams often focus on longer runs to collect race data. On Saturday morning, short, fast runs are practiced to prepare for qualifying.
Qualifying determines the starting grid for the race. Naturally, every driver aims to start from the best possible position — ideally, Pole Position (P1).
The qualifying session is divided into three parts:
Q1: 18 minutes. The five slowest drivers are eliminated and will start at the back of the grid.
Q2: 15 minutes. The next five slowest drivers are eliminated.
Q3: 12 minutes. The fastest 10 drivers compete for the top grid positions, with P1 being the goal.
Thus, the slowest car starts from 20th, and the fastest from 1st on race day.
Sunday is when the main race happens.
The winner is the driver who crosses the finish line first after completing the race distance.
Since every F1 track is different, race lengths vary too.
However, most Grand Prix races must cover a minimum distance of 305 kilometers.
Races are run over the smallest number of laps needed to reach that distance. The only exception is the Monaco Grand Prix, which covers only 260 kilometers due to its much slower nature.
A Grand Prix cannot exceed two hours of racing time. If a race is interrupted, for example due to an accident, there is a maximum total time limit of three hours from the original start.
Since 2021, selected F1 weekends feature Sprint races (a shorter race of 100 km).
This slightly changes the weekend format:
Friday: Practice + Qualifying for the main race.
Saturday: Qualifying for the Sprint and the Sprint Race itself.
Sunday: The main Grand Prix.
Winning an F1 race is about more than just raw speed. Teams must master strategy, timing, and adapt to race conditions.
Tire Compounds:
Each driver must use at least two different types of tire compounds during a dry race, meaning a pit stop is mandatory.
The available compounds — Soft, Medium, Hard — are announced at the start of the weekend.
There are also Intermediate and Wet tires for rainy conditions.
Different compounds can be identified by their colored sidewalls.
In wet races, the two-compound rule is waived.
DRS:
On specific parts of the track, and only when a driver is within one second of the car in front, they can use DRS (Drag Reduction System).
This system opens a flap on the rear wing to reduce aerodynamic drag, making the car faster and aiding overtaking.
Only the top 10 finishers score points:
1st place: 25 points
2nd place: 18 points
3rd place: 15 points
… down to 10th place, which earns 1 point
Additionally, the driver who sets the fastest lap during the race and finishes in the top 10 earns an extra point.
If the fastest lap is set by someone outside the top 10, no bonus point is awarded.
Yes — women are an important part of F1 teams, working in strategy, communications, engineering, as pit crew members, presenters, and even as test drivers.
However, there hasn’t been a female F1 race driver since 1975.
Today, there is the F1 Academy, a dedicated all-female racing series. These young talents race at selected Grand Prix weekends to promote greater female participation in motorsport.
