A Beginner’s Guide To Formula 1

I was introduced to Formula 1 a few years ago when I starting dating my boyfriend who is a fan and from there developed an interest in the sport. It took me a bit of time to understand exactly what was going on but I was determined to get to grips with it. From watching races and Drive To Survive on Netflix, I had found a sport I enjoyed.

Being an only child, I never grew up with siblings to get me into specific sports and my dad never had that kind of influence on me either. He favours cycling which I haven’t been able to get on board with. My dad did used to watch F1 when he was younger and my newfound interest, sparked his back up.

This post will outline the important things to know when starting to watch F1 and hopefully will urge some of you to become fans of the thrilling sport.

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So, if we’re stripping it right back. What is Formula 1?

It is a series of races of the world’s fastest single-seated, open-cabin, four-wheeled autos held all over the globe across 8 months.

Formula 1 has been around for decades so a lot has changed over time. I’m going to outline the current guidelines and way the race works.

Let’s begin… there are 10 teams each with 2 main drivers.

So our F1 2023 drivers are:

Max Verstappen & Sergio Perez - Oracle Red Bull Racing

Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz - Scuderia Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton & George Russell - Mercedes AMG Petronas

Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri - Mclaren

Valtteri Bottas & Zhou Guanyu - Alfa Romeo

Pierre Gasly & Esteban Ocon - Alpine

Yuki Tsnuoda & Nick De Vries - Scuderia AlphaTauri

Kevin Magnussen & Nico Hulkenberg - Haas

Lance Stroll & Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin

Alexander Albon & Logan Sargeant - Williams Racing

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Lewis Hamilton (44) Mercedes, 2021

Now that you know each of the drivers and which teams they are in, it’s time to explain what everything you see on the screen whilst watching F1, actually means. It can look a bit daunting at first glance, but I promise it’s not as complicated as it seems.

Let’s start with giving you the lowdown of a race weekend.

Friday: Practice (the drivers test their cars in an attempt to get their strategy perfect for the weekend ahead and so the mechanics can make any quick changes. They look at tyre degradation and aerodynamic performance to name a couple.)

Saturday: Qualifying* (to determine who will start on pole; more detail below)

Sunday: Race day !!

*In some races across the race months, there is something called a sprint which is essentially a mini race to determine who starts the main event. If it is a sprint weekend then qualifying to determine who starts on pole on Sunday, will take place on the Friday after practice. Then on Saturday before the sprint there is a shorter qualifying session to determine pole of the sprint.

Ferrari pits at the Monza Grand Prix, 2021

Let’s talk qualifying.

Quali is split into 3 parts. Q1 lasts 18 mins, Q2 lasts 15 mins and Q3 lasts 12 mins.

It is absolutely essential to put in a good performance during qualifying as this determines your position on the grid for the race which can have a huge involvement in whether you take the chequered flag. The way it works is by process of elimination whereby for Q1 only the fastest 15 will make it to the next round and then the fastest 10 in Q2 will make it into the final round, Q3.

Whoever gets the fastest lap in the final stage of qualifying, Q3, will start at the top of the grid on Sunday and so on down the grid to 20.

Now let’s take a look at what graphics you will see on your screen during qualifying.

Firstly it is important to note…

Right. Still with me?

Now we’re onto the main event of the weekend… the race! When you’re sat at home ready for the live action there are a few things to be aware of. Firstly is the side bar shown below which comes up once the race is underway.

The final thing to know before you go into complete information overload is the variations of the above sidebar which may occur during a race.

A safety car will occur when there has been some sort of disturbance or hazard to the race which is not severe enough to stop the race completely. This generally occurs after a yellow flag which means the cars all must reduce their speed. However, if the hazard is easily managed there may be virtual safety car (VSC) which simply means no physical car is on track for the drivers to follow.

A red flag will stop the race completely and resume when whatever danger that occurs has been dealt with.

At the end of every race there is a race winner and someone who wins the fastest lap of the race, meaning they get an extra point towards the championship. Only those in the top 10 will gain points at the end of a race.

Safety cars in the pit lane

Now that you know all the basics to Formula 1 you are ready to watch a race and get involved in the action! It’s easier to pick things up when you’re getting stuck in but I hope this guide helped make it a bit less daunting to take up a new sport. You won’t regret giving it a go!