Formula 1 (F1) Crash Course: The Basics

In recent times, the epitome of motorsports, Formula 1 or commonly known as the F1 has gain extreme popularity. Globally, the fan following of the motorsport has grown exponentially. The credit can be given to multiple market strategies of F1, such as “Drive to Survive” on Netflix, social media contents, live broadcasting by various online platforms like F1TV and Fan Code, merchandise, etc. While F1 might seem like a simple sport where the drivers drive around a circuit for multiple laps, it is a complicated sport with a lot of logistics and technologies fueling it from the behind. Therefore, if you are someone trying to get into the sport but getting overwhelmed with the terminologies and information, I am here to give you a quick overview of the basic topics related to F1.

Topics covered in the article:

1. Common terminologies
2. Teams & Drivers
3. Race Weekend
4. Races & Circuits
5. Pitlane & Pitstop
6. Race cars
7. Tyres
8. DRS
9. Battery
10. Flags

Common Terminologies:

TERMINOLOGY	MEANING
F1	Formula 1
FIA	Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile
GP	Grand Prix
WDC	World Drivers’ Championship
WCC	World Constructors’ Championship
FP	Free Practice
P	Position (for example, P1 = 1st position)
Q	Qualifying
DRS	Drag Reduction System
DNF	Did Not Finish
Quali	Qualifying race
Lights out	5 red lights going off to mark the start of a race.
Box	Come to the pit
Grid	The lineup of the drivers on the track

Teams & Drivers:

Although the teams, also known as constructors and drivers can change with time, especially the drivers. The drivers may even change within a season due to various reasons. Currently, there are 10 teams, each with two drivers, i.e., total 20 drivers. The current lineup of F1 as of today, including the expected changes in 2026 is as follows:

SL. NO.	TEAM	DRIVERS
1	McLaren	Oscar Piastri & Lando Norris
2	Ferrari	Charles Leclerc & Lewis Hamilton
3	Mercedes	George Russell & Kimi Antonelli
4	Red Bull Racing	Max Verstappen & Yuki Tsunoda
5	Williams	Alexander Albon & Carlos Sainz
6	Aston Martin	Fernando Alonso & Lance Stroll
7	Racing Bulls (an independent sister team of Red Bull Racing)	Liam Lawson & Isack Hadjar
8	Kick Sauber (will become Audi in 2026)	Nico Hulkenberg & Gabriel Bortoleto
9	Hass	Esteban Ocon & Oliver Bearman
10	Alpine	Pierre Gasly & Franco Colapinto
11	Cadillac (will join F1 from 2026)	Sergio Perez (former Red Bull Racing driver) & Valtteri Bottas (currently Mercedes’ reserve driver)

Race Weekend:

F1 races are held on weekends, i.e., Saturdays and Sundays. There are three stages per race weekend:

• Free Practice: 3 free practice rounds, FP1, FP2, and FP2 are allowed for every race, where each team test their cars before the race.
• Qualifying: After the free practice rounds, during qualifying rounds drivers set lap times, based on which they are allotted grid position in the final race. Qualifying is carried out in 3 rounds, Q1, Q2, and Q3. In Q1, slowest 5 drivers are knocked out, in Q2, the next slowest drivers are knocked out, and in Q3, the drivers secure grid positions on the track.
• Race: On the final race, drivers start the race from the position based on their qualifying lap time, for example, the fastest driver gets to start the race ahead of everyone, known as the pole position, and the slowest one starts from the last. There might be special circumstances, such as a penalty, where a driver might have to start the race from the pitlane.

Races & Circuits:

Races:

There are two types of championships in F1, i.e., Constructors’ Championship and Drivers’ Championship, every year or commonly known as a season.

Each season, 24 Grand Prix (GP) races, along with 6 additional shorter Sprint races are held at multiple circuits in multiple countries. In every GP race, top 10 drivers, and top 8 drivers for Sprint race, to finish a race are awarded with points. Therefore, by end of the season the driver to collect most points wins the World Drivers’ Championship, and the team having the highest cumulative points wins the World Constructors’ Championship.

The details of the races and points are as follows:

1. Grand Prix races:

Distance	Minimum 305 kilometres
Number of races	24

Grand Prix race points:

POSITION	POINTS
1	25
2	18
3	15
4	12
5	10
6	8
7	6
8	4
9	2
10	1

2. Sprint races:

Distance	Around 100 kilometers
Number of races	6 (Quarter of GP races)

Sprint race points:

POSITION	POINTS
1	8
2	7
3	6
4	5
5	4
6	3
7	2
8	1

Circuits:

While the circuits may change over the time, the recent circuits and their respective countries are as follows:

SL. NO.	COUNTRY	RACE NAME	CIRCUIT
1	Australia	Australian Grand Prix	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
2	China	Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit
3	Japan	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course
4	Bahrain	Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit
5	Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabian Grand Prix	Jeddah Street Circuit
6	United States	Miami Grand Prix	Miami International Autodrome
7	Italy	Grand Premio dell’Emilia-Romagna (also known as Imola Grand Prix)	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
8	Monaco	Grand Prix De Monaco	Circuit de Monaco
9	Spain	Grand Prix De Espana	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
10	Canada	Grand Prix Du Canada	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
11	Austria	Austrian Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring
12	Great Britain	British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit
13	Belgium	Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
14	Hungary	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring
15	Netherlands	Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Park Zandvoort
16	Italy	Grand Premio D’Italia	Autodromo Nazionale Monza
17	Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit
18	Singapore	Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit
19	United States	United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas
20	Mexico	Grand Premio de Mexico	Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
21	Brazil	Grand Premio de Sao Paulo	Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace
22	United States	Vegas Grand Prix	Las Vegas Street Circuit
23	Qatar	Qatar Grand Prix	Losail International Circuit
24	Abu Dhabi	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit

Pitlane & Pitstop:

• Pit: The garage where the race cars are stored and repaired.
• Pitlane: The lane that connects the garages to the main racetrack.
• Pitstop: The stops taken by the drivers in their respective team pits to change tyres or others quick fixes if required during a race.

Race Cars:

Although every team designs their own cars with variations in designs and aerodynamics, the cars must have the same standard specifications, such as weight, size, power, fuel, etc. set by the FIA. Also, the number of components, such as engine, tyres, transmission, etc. allotted to each team is limited. Additionally, changing components or not adhering to the FIA regulation may attract penalties, such as drop in grid position, time penalty, financial penalty, ban, etc.

Tyres:

Currently, the tyres used on F1 cars are 18-inch tyres by Pirelli. There is a range of tyres that the teams can use based on various weather and track conditions, as well as team strategy. However, the number of tyres that each team can use are limited.

There are 5 major types of tyres:

• Soft/Slick: Provides most grip and speed on a dry track but does not last long. They are marked red.
• Medium: Medium tyres have a balance between grip and longevity. They are marked yellow.
• Hard: Hard tyres last the long but provides less amount of grip and speed. They are marked white.
• Intermediate: Preferable during light rain or moderately wet tracks. They are marked green.
• Rain: As the name suggests, these tyres are made for heavy rain conditions. They provide the maximum grip in the rain but provides least speed on a dry track. Rain tyres are marked blue:

DRS:

DRS stands for Drag Reduction System. It is a special feature that allow the rear wing of the F1 cars to open and reduce drag or downforce. This increases speed of the cars for overtakes in straight lines. This can only be activated within allowed DRS zones within the track and when the car is within a 1 second distance from the car ahead of it.

Battery:

Another term that you might often hear about while watching an F1 race is battery. The current generation F1 cars are hybrid, which means that they have a combustion engine as well as an electric motor. The motor recharges the battery powering it while braking. The extra power from the motor helps during acceleration and quick overtakes. Therefore, the drivers use the battery power and recharges them strategically during the races.

Flags:

Like every other motorsport, F1 also has multiple flags for various situations. The flags and their meanings are as follows:

SL. NO.	COLOUR	MEANING
1	Green	Clear track.
2	Yellow (single)	Hazard on the track. Reduce car speed. No overtaking.
3	Yellow (double)	Hazard on the track. Reduce car speed. No overtaking. Track blocked/marshal at work.
4	Red	Stop race.
5	Yellow with red stripes	Low grip level on the track. Probable oil or water on track.
6	White	Slow driver ahead.
7	Blue	Traffic approaching from behind. The car is about to be lapped; let the car behind pass.
8	Code 60	60 km/h speed limit.
9	Black	Driver disqualified.
10	Black with orange disc	Car has mechanical problem and must enter the pit.
11	Black and white	Warning for exhibiting non-sportsman-like behaviour.
12	Black and white chequered	End of race.

Conclusion:

Although I have tried to cover as much basics as possible, this is just the surface and there is still a lot to cover. I will either update more topics in this article as the time goes by or add additional articles covering more technical sides of Formula 1.

I hope the topics covered in this article will provide you some help to start following Formula 1.

Last but not least, please let me know if you would like me to cover any other specific F1 or motorsport-related topics.

Sources: www.formula1.com and www.espn.in