Circuits
International venues host grands prix to create a season with a varying number of races each year. There isn’t a defined minimum or maximum season length, although there is a distinct upward trend of races per season as the years go by.
Every location that hosts a Grand Prix must meet the strictest safety rules set out by the FIA, F1’s governing body, to protect both drivers and attending fans. If you follow football (or soccer, should you prefer), think of Formula 1 as the World Cup and the FIA as FIFA.
A circuit – a length of road that weaves a ribbon of tarmac before ending where it started – might be on closed-off public streets or at a dedicated race track.
Race Distance
Rather than haphazardly racing on random roads in each nation, rules established in 1989 dictate that each race would run for 305 km or 190 miles.
Each circuit’s length will vary, but an F1 race will see the drivers repeatedly lap the track until they complete 305 km. When they reach that point, the next time they cross the finish line will end the Grand Prix.
The sole exception to this rule is Monaco’s extraordinarily tight and twisty street circuit, which runs for 260 km instead.
Lights Out: The Race Start
Each Grand Prix begins with a formation lap where the drivers make their way around the circuit at a slower-than-usual speed before lining up on the starting grid.
Once the final driver takes their place at their defined starting position, five red lights above the starting line will illuminate sequentially to countdown the race’s start. When all five lights simultaneously go out, the Grand Prix begins.
The time between each light switching on is the same, but there is a random delay each time from the fifth light’s illumination and them all switching off. This variation means a driver’s reaction time is crucial to get the edge over their competitors.
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Weekend Format
Each Formula 1 race weekend has five sessions spread over three days, with the first two on Friday, the second two on Saturday, before the Grand Prix finale on a Sunday.
Free Practice
Free Practice allows the drivers to experience and familiarise themselves with a track and test different car setups in non-competitive sessions on Fridays and Saturdays.
A standard race weekend has three Free Practice sessions, each lasting one hour, with two on Friday and one on Saturday before Qualifying.
Some race weekends will host a shorter race called Sprint, detailed below. These only have two Free Practice sessions; one on Friday and one on Saturday.
Qualifying
The first competitive session of a weekend is Qualifying; an hour of running sets the starting order for the race.
Drivers attempt to set the fastest lap times around the circuit hosting the Grand Prix, with the quickest starting the race at the front and the slowest from the back.
Qualifying has three sessions: Q1, Q2, and Q3. Q1 lasts 18 minutes, Q2 runs for 15 minutes, and Q3 goes on for 12 minutes, with a seven and eight-minute break between each to make up an hour.
At the end of Q1, the five slowest drivers are eliminated, and they will start the race in the order of their lap times. The slowest driver starts from 20th place, the second slowest in 19th place, and so on.
Q2 sees the times set in Q1 wiped clean, and the process repeats for the remaining 15 drivers.
Finally, Q3 has the remaining 10 competitors in a straight shootout to set the fastest time, with the quickest driver getting to start the race from first place, commonly known as pole position.
Sprint
Introduced in 2021, Sprint is a short-form race lasting 100 km that replaces the third Free Practice session at some race weekends.
2025 sees six Sprint events in China, Miami, Belgium, the United States (Austin, Texas), Brazil and Qatar.
The format for Sprint weekends sees a condensed Qualifying session take place on the Friday afternoon before the Sprint race itself on Saturday morning. There are no mandatory pit stops in a Sprint.
