Although one of the most popular sports in the world, Formula 1 has a reputation for being boring, confusing, and a totally male-dominated field.
Whilst admittedly the fanbase doesn’t do much to help dispute these claims, I think that it is one of the most exciting sports around today: it might be hard to believe, but Formula 1 is far more than rich men driving fast cars around a track for hours on end.
As a fairly recent fan of the sport with no background in physics or engineering, I know that Formula 1 can be totally baffling to even begin to understand, with terms like DRS and downforce being thrown around like there’s no tomorrow.
This guide is for anyone interested in understanding the sport that seems to be pretty unwelcoming towards new fans, not only because it can be an enigma, even within the sport, there is criticism for newer fans who might have discovered the sport through the Netflix docudrama Drive to Survive, with female fans facing particular criticism loaded with the misogynistic view that we’re only in it for the fit drivers.
So, let’s break it down.
The Championship
The Formula 1 Championship is effectively the equivalent of the Champions League for motor racing. This year, it is made up of 24 race weekends (matches) that take place across the world. These races are known as Grand Prix.
In the championship, there are 10 different teams and each team has 2 drivers, meaning that there are 20 drivers in total.
Even though there are teams, each driver scores points as an individual, contributing to their position in the Drivers’ (individual) Championship. However, with two drivers per team, their points are also combined together, contributing to the team’s overall position in the Constructor’s (team) Championship.
Drivers and their respective teams score points during a Formula 1 Race Weekend.
The Race Weekend
A normal Formula 1 race is actually a 3-day event.
On the first day (Friday), there are two practice sessions, known as FP1 and FP2 (Free Practice 1 and 2). These sessions last one hour each, and are not point scoring. They are used by teams to gain more data about the cars and drivers on the specific track where the race is taking place, allowing teams to try different tyres and strategies in order to improve their performance when the race actually takes place on the Sunday.
On the second day (Saturday), there is another practice session in the morning (FP3), and then the Qualifying Session takes place in the afternoon. Qualifying might be the most complicated aspect of the race weekend, and although it is not point scoring, it is used to determine the starting positions for each driver for the main race on Sunday. The starting line-up is often referred to as ‘the grid’.
Qualifying lasts one hour and is split up into 3 parts (with short breaks). The first part of Qualifying is known as Q1 and lasts 18 minutes (weird, I know). During Q1, all of the drivers head out onto the track one at a time in order to complete the fastest one lap of the track. The slowest 5 drivers are eliminated at the end of this round, making up positions 16 to 20, depending on their times. You might hear this being referred to as ‘the back of the grid’.
In the second part of Qualifying, Q2, the top 15 drivers have 15 minutes to complete their fastest possible lap, and the 5 drivers with the slowest times are eliminated once again. These drivers make up positions 11 to 15, depending on their times.
In the final part of Qualifying – you guessed it, it’s called Q3 – the top 10 drivers have 12 minutes to complete the fastest possible lap. Based on their times, drivers’ starting positions for the race are determined; whoever is the quickest, will start at the front during the race on Sunday, with the rest of the drivers following suit depending on their respective times.
The Race
So, as we’ve established, the race is the final part of the Race Weekend, taking place on the Sunday. The starting positions for the race have been determined by the Qualifying session, and the race is the opportunity to actually score points as a driver.
Races typically last around 2 hours, with a set number of laps depending on the length of the track. Although they last a while, races are extremely exciting and nerve-wracking, with crashes, breakdowns, and overtakes.
The race itself is fairly self-explanatory: whoever is the fastest, wins. Only the top 10 drivers score points; whoever finishes first, scores 25 points, with the number of points slowly decreasing for each position (18 for 2nd, 15 for 3rd etc.). As someone who struggles with maths, I personally would like to have a firm word with whoever invented the F1 points system.
Basic Rules and Terms
One of the things that makes Formula 1 seem so inaccessible, is definitely the throwing around of technical terms and rules that sound extremely complicated.
Here are some of the most important ones to know:
Pit Stop
A Pit Stop is when, during the race, the driver comes into the Pit (garage) in order to get parts of the car changed – usually tyres. Pit Stops are mandatory during Formula 1 races as drivers are required to use at least 2 different types of tyres during each race (yes, there are types of tyres). Whilst they sound boring, a good Pit Stop can help increase the driver’s position in a race, whilst a bad Pit Stop can be devastating.
DRS
DRS stands for Drag Reduction System, and was introduced in 2011 in order to make the races more exciting. In short, DRS opens a small flap at the back of an F1 car that reduces drag and makes it easier to overtake.
Red Flag
A Red Flag is exactly what it says on the tin. The Red Flag is used to signal a stop to the race, due to anything from a crash, to unsafe weather. When a Red Flag is shown, drivers must return to the pits until the race resumes again.
Yellow Flag
A Yellow Flag is a step down from the Red Flag, and indicates there is a hazard on track. Drivers must slow down and avoid overtaking; if they fail to do so, they can be hit with a penalty.
Safety Car
A Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car is used to slow down the speed of the cars when there is a Yellow Flag. It’s basically a pace maker, that leads the cars around the track at a controlled pace instead of stopping the race completely.
Track Limits
Track limits are the lines around the track that drivers cannot cross during the race. The boundary exists to make sure that cars don’t cut parts of the track and get an unfair advantage or overtake. You might hear drivers get a penalty for ‘track limit violation’ during a race.
Although Formula 1 is certainly a complicated sport, when the key components are broken down, it can definitely make it easier to understand, allowing you to truly enjoy the drama and excitement it has to offer.
Hopefully with this guide, if a gate-keeping F1 fan asks you to prove your knowledge by testing you on DRS, you can tell them that you “actually do know what it is, thank you very much.”
