“I am an artist. The track is my canvas and my car is my brush.” Graham Hill. Â
Formula 1 is more than just a sport, it connects people, culture, knowledge, it represents gratitude, courage, achievements and passion. It all started back in 1950, and after 74 years, the same passion still burns and grows from each heart of every driver. The motorsport world is big, but it may not be that complicated to understand. So if you want to start watching Formula 1, here’s a guide to help you!
HOW IT WORKS
There’s twenty-four rounds in Formula 1, each one in a different country, except for Italy, which welcomes the races twice. Every round has three days: free practices, qualifying and the race day. Some of them can also include a sprint weekend, which changes the agenda.Â
Usual weekends
On Friday there are two sessions of free practice, where the cars race for 50 minutes (first practice) and 1 hour and 20 minutes (second practice) to test the vehicle, track, and driver’s ability, but you don’t win anything.
On Saturday there is one more free practice, for the final adjustments, and later on, the qualifying, which is separated in three times. In the Q1, all of the twenty drivers go to the track and the five who do the slowest laps, won’t have another chance. Q2 has the same rules, with the remaining fifteen drivers, where those five who do the worst laps, end up in the session (Q2). The 10 drivers who are still in the race go to Q3, and the one who makes the fastest lap, will start the Sunday race in first and win some points for the position. The rule is simple, fastest lap race in first, the second fastest lap race in second, and so it goes.
Sprint Weekends
When Formula 1 has a sprint race, it’s a little bit different:
On Friday, there is one free practice, and the qualifying for the sprint race, which follows the same format as the normal qualifying.
Then on Saturday, you have the sprint race that lasts only 17 laps.
The normal qualifying and the actual race happen on Sunday.Â
The race
The race happens always on Sunday, and it can last up to 78 laps, depending on how many kilometers there’s in the track. Twenty drivers, twenty cars, and ten teams compete between the fastest lap, and the first place.Â
The championship
The championship is won by the driver who achieves the most points, but this can happen only on the final race or even be predicted before that, like it happened with Max Verstappen, in 2022 and last year, 2023.
In an interview for Her Campus, Formula 1 super fan Vinicius Zanini explained how the score works. “There is not an exact difference to be a championship. Hamilton was a champion in 2008 with only a point ahead of Massa. Nikki Lauda was a champion in 1984 with only a half point ahead of Alain Prost. Everything depends on the driver’s score.Â
There are 10 teams in total and 20 drivers:
- RedBull Racing – Max Verstappen and Checo Perez
- McLaren – Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
- Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton and George Russel
- Ferrari – Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz
- Aston Martin – Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll
- Alpine – Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon
- Williams – Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto
- Haas – Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen
- Kick Sauber – Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas
- Visa Cash App RB – Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson
Main races and next season
Some of the most iconics races in Formula 1 are Monza (Italy), Silverstone (London), Spa-Francochian (Belgium), and Interlagos (Brazil). Next season it’s a big step ahead for Brazil, after seven years without any brazilian on the tracks, we will have Gabriel Bortoletto racing for Kick Sauber alongside Nico Hulkenberg.
The 2025 season starts in March, the first round will be Melbourn (Australia).Â
“And so you touch this limits, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high.“
Ayrton Senna
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The article above was edited by Maria Esther Cortez.
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