Formula 1 explained from scratch: the sessions, tyres, pit strategy, aerodynamics, the hybrid engines, flags and the championship. New to F1? Start here, or use the search box to jump to a term.
A Grand Prix is a single Formula 1 race event, held over one weekend at one circuit. The season is a series of Grands Prix in different countries, and a driver's results across all of them decide the championship.
Practice sessions held before qualifying, where teams test the car and try different setups and fuel loads. A normal weekend has three. Because teams are experimenting rather than chasing a result, practice lap times do not directly predict qualifying or race pace.
The session that sets the starting order for the race. Drivers set their fastest single laps, and the fastest starts at the front. It runs in three parts: Q1 knocks out the slowest cars, Q2 knocks out more, and Q3 decides the top ten and who takes pole position.
A short race, about a third of a normal Grand Prix distance, held on some weekends in addition to the main race. It has its own shorter qualifying and awards a smaller number of points. It does not replace the Grand Prix; it is an extra race on the same weekend.
The grid is the staggered arrangement of cars at the start line, and a driver's grid position is the spot they start from. It is set by qualifying: the fastest qualifier starts from grid position one (pole), the second fastest from two, and so on. Starting further forward is a real advantage.
First place on the starting grid, given to the driver who set the fastest lap in qualifying. It is the best possible starting spot because the car is at the front with clear track ahead.
The single lap the cars complete together, in grid order, immediately before the race starts. It lets drivers warm up the tyres and brakes and check the track. The race proper begins once the cars return to the grid and the lights go out.
A set of rules that lock the car's setup from the start of qualifying until the race. Once parc fermé is in force, teams cannot make meaningful changes to the car, so they must commit to a setup before they know exactly what qualifying and the race will bring.
Drivers score points by finishing position in the race. The top ten score; everyone below tenth gets nothing. Sprints award a smaller set of points to the top finishers. These points feed both championships.
The season-long contest between drivers. Each driver collects points at every race, and the driver with the most points at the end of the season is the World Drivers' Champion.
The season-long contest between teams. A team scores the combined points of both its drivers, and the team with the most at the end of the season wins. A constructor is simply the team that builds the car.
The top three finishers of a race, who are presented with trophies on a raised platform afterwards. Finishing on the podium (first, second or third) is a headline result, short of a win but well ahead of the rest.
To win the championship with certainty before the season ends. A driver clinches the title once they are so far ahead that the points still available in the remaining races cannot let anyone catch them, so the title is theirs even if the season continued.
The track a Grand Prix is held on: a closed loop of corners and straights that cars complete many times during a race. Each circuit has its own length, number of corners and character, which shapes how a car and its tyres behave there.
A straight section of track between corners, where the cars reach their highest speeds. The longest straights are the main places overtaking happens, often with the help of a slipstream.
A turn on the circuit, numbered in order around the lap (Turn 1, Turn 2, and so on). Corners are where lap time is won and lost, and they range from slow hairpins to fast sweeps. Curva's track maps label the corner numbers.
A very tight, slow corner that turns the track back on itself, close to 180 degrees. Cars slow right down for a hairpin, which makes it a common overtaking spot.
The point on the inside of a corner that a driver aims to clip, the tightest part of their line through the turn. Hitting the apex well lets a driver carry the most speed through the corner and get the best run onto the next straight.
A tight sequence of corners, usually a quick left-right or right-left, built to slow the cars down at a fast point on the track. Chicanes are a common overtaking spot because a driver has to brake hard for them.
The raised, usually red-and-white edging on the inside and outside of corners. Drivers ride over the kerbs to straighten their line and gain a little time, but hitting them too hard can unsettle the car or cause damage.
The line on the track where a lap begins and ends, and where the race starts and finishes. Lap times are measured from this line, and on Curva's track maps it is marked so you can orient yourself around the circuit.
How long a driver takes to complete one full lap of the circuit, measured to the thousandth of a second. It is the basic unit of speed in F1: a lower lap time is faster.
Each lap is split into three timed parts called sectors (Sector 1, 2 and 3). Splitting the lap this way shows where on the track one driver is gaining or losing time against another, rather than just comparing the whole lap.
The single quickest lap set by a driver in a session. In the race, the fastest lap overall is often highlighted because it shows a car's peak pace, usually on fresh tyres and a light fuel load late in the race.
In live timing, a lap or sector shown in purple is the fastest anyone has set in the whole session so far. Green means it is that driver's own personal best but not the overall fastest. The colours let you see at a glance who just went quickest.
The time difference between two laps or two drivers at the same point on the track. A delta of plus 0.3 seconds means one driver is three tenths behind the other at that point. Curva's telemetry tool plots a running delta across the lap, so you can see how the gap opened and closed.
How far behind the leader a driver is, measured in time (for example, plus 12.4 seconds). The gap tells you how spread out the field is and whether a driver is catching or falling away from the front.
The time gap to the car directly ahead, rather than to the leader. A small interval means a driver is close enough to attack the car in front; a large one means clear air between them.
The in-lap is the lap a driver does on the way into the pits, and the out-lap is the lap done just after leaving. Both are slower than normal: the in-lap because the driver eases off before stopping, and the out-lap because cold, fresh tyres need a lap to warm up.
The type of tyre a car is running. There are three dry-weather compounds and two for rain. In a dry race the rules require each driver to use at least two of the dry compounds, which is why every dry race includes at least one pit stop. Choosing which compounds to use and when is the core of race strategy.
A new, unused set of tyres. Fresh tyres have full grip, so they are noticeably faster than the worn set a car has been running. A lot of race strategy comes down to timing when to swap worn tyres for fresh ones.
F1 tyres only grip properly once they reach a high working temperature. When they are too cold, at the start, after a pit stop, or behind a safety car, the car slides and is slower until the tyres warm up over a lap or two.
As a tyre is used, it wears down and loses grip, so the car gets slower lap by lap. This gradual slowdown is called degradation, or deg. How fast a tyre degrades depends on the compound, the track and how hard the driver pushes, and it is the main reason cars have to pit for fresh tyres.
A type of tyre wear where the surface tears and rolls up into little strands of rubber. It happens when a tyre slides too much, often because it is too cold or is being pushed hard early in a stint. Graining costs grip and lap time until the surface clears, if it clears at all.
Tyre damage where the rubber overheats from the inside, forms bubbles and can break away in chunks. Unlike graining, which comes from a cold, sliding tyre, blistering comes from a tyre running too hot. It leaves the surface uneven and costs grip.
When a driver brakes so hard that a wheel stops turning while the car is still moving, so the tyre skids. A lock-up flat-spots the tyre and usually means the driver has run wide or missed the corner.
A worn patch on a tyre caused by a lock-up, when the wheel stops turning and skids along the track. The flattened area makes the tyre vibrate badly, and a serious flat spot can force a driver to pit for a new set.
The little bits of worn rubber that get thrown off the tyres and gather off the racing line. Driving over them is like driving on ball bearings: they give almost no grip, so drivers avoid the marbles, and running wide onto them can cost a place.
The run of laps a driver does on one set of tyres, between pit stops. A race is made up of several stints. Comparing stints shows how a driver's pace changed as the tyres wore, and how their strategy played out.
A stop in the pit lane during the race where the crew changes all four tyres in about two to three seconds. Cars pit because fresh tyres are much faster than worn ones. The stop itself costs time (roughly 20 to 25 seconds including the slow laps in and out), so teams weigh that cost against the pace gained on new tyres.
The team's radio call telling a driver to come into the pits this lap, as in "box, box". It comes from the German word for a pit stop. If you hear a driver told to box, they are about to pit.
The range of laps in which it makes sense for a driver to pit, based on tyre wear and where rivals are on track. Pitting inside your window can drop you into clear air; pitting too early or too late can leave you stuck in traffic after the stop.
How many pit stops a driver makes in the race. At least one is mandatory in a dry race, because the rules require using two different dry compounds and the only way to change compound is to pit; this requirement is waived in a wet race, where drivers run intermediate or wet tyres. Beyond that minimum it is a strategy call: a one-stop asks the tyres to last longer but loses less time in the pits, while a two-stop gives fresher tyres and more pace at the cost of an extra stop to make up.
A way to get ahead of a car you cannot overtake on track. During a race, a driver who is faster but stuck behind another car pits for fresh tyres before that car does. Fresh tyres are much quicker than worn ones, so over the next few laps the driver who stopped sets faster lap times. By the time the car ahead makes its own pit stop, the driver who stopped early has made up enough time to come out in front.
The opposite of an undercut. Instead of pitting early, a driver stays out longer than the car ahead while that rival pits. If the driver still out can keep setting good times on older tyres, and the rival gets stuck behind other cars after their stop, the driver who stayed out can come out ahead when they finally pit.
The aerodynamic force that pushes an F1 car down onto the track, created by the wings and floor as air flows over the car. More downforce means more grip through corners, so the car can go faster there. The trade-off is that it also creates drag, which slows the car on the straights.
The air resistance that pushes back against a car as it moves. The faster the car goes, the more drag it fights, so drag limits top speed on the straights. Teams balance downforce (grip in corners) against drag (speed on straights) for each track.
Grip created by the shape of the car's floor, which speeds up the air underneath and effectively sucks the car down onto the track. Since 2022 F1 cars have relied heavily on ground effect, which lets them follow each other more closely than the previous cars did.
A rapid up-and-down bouncing of the car on the straights, caused by ground effect. As the floor sucks the car down, the airflow stalls and the car rises, grip returns and it slams down again, over and over. It was a major problem when the ground-effect rules arrived in 2022.
Movable front and rear wings, introduced for 2026, that change shape depending on where the car is on the track. In a low-drag setting on the straights the wings open to cut air resistance and raise top speed; in a high-downforce setting through the corners they close for more grip. These are often called Straight Mode and Corner Mode.
A flap in the rear wing that a driver could open on certain straights to cut air resistance and gain top speed, making overtaking easier. It could only be used when within one second of the car ahead at a set point. DRS was used from 2011 to 2025. For 2026 it was dropped, and its overtaking role passed to active aerodynamics plus an electric Overtake boost. On Curva, DRS appears as a telemetry channel only for seasons up to 2025.
The turbulent air left behind a fast-moving F1 car. When a driver follows closely, this disturbed air reduces their own car's grip, making it harder to stay close and overtake. It is a big reason a faster car can still get stuck behind a slower one.
The pocket of low-resistance air directly behind another car. A following driver who tucks into it meets less air resistance and can gain speed on a straight, which helps them close up and set up an overtake. It is sometimes called a tow.
The full F1 engine package. It is not just a petrol engine but a hybrid: a 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 combined with an electric system that recovers and redeploys energy. From 2026 the power is split roughly half petrol, half electric, and the fuel is fully sustainable. People often still call it the engine.
A device that uses the engine's exhaust gases to force more air into the engine, giving more power from the same size of engine. Every F1 power unit since 2014 has been turbocharged.
The hybrid part of the power unit. It captures energy that would otherwise be wasted, mainly under braking, stores it in a battery, and releases it later as an extra burst of electric power. For 2026 the ERS is far more powerful and provides about half of the car's total power.
The part of the hybrid system that recovers energy under braking and sends it back to the wheels as electric power. From 2026 its output tripled, from 120 to 350 kilowatts, making the electric side of the car much stronger.
A part of the older hybrid system that recovered energy from the heat of the turbocharger. It was clever but complex and expensive, and it was used from 2014 to 2025. For 2026 it was removed to make the engines simpler and cheaper, which also helped attract new manufacturers.
The battery that holds the electric energy the hybrid system recovers, ready to be redeployed for a power boost. How much energy a team can harvest and store each lap is limited by the rules, so managing the battery is part of the race.
Releasing the stored electric energy from the battery to give the car an extra burst of power, usually down the straights. A driver has a limited amount to deploy each lap, so where they choose to use it, for defence or attack, matters.
An overtaking aid introduced for 2026 that replaces the role DRS used to play. When a driver is within one second of the car ahead, they can call on an extra dose of electric power to help make the pass. Unlike DRS, which opened the rear wing, this boost comes from the battery.
From 2026, the petrol side of the power unit runs on fully sustainable fuel, made from sources like waste or carbon captured from the air rather than fossil oil. The aim is to keep the sound and character of the combustion engine while cutting its carbon footprint.
Flags signal track conditions and instructions to drivers. The main ones:
Shown to a driver as a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct, such as repeatedly pushing another car off the track or ignoring track limits. It is effectively a caution: a further offence can bring a real penalty.
Shown to a driver whose car has a clear mechanical problem, such as a loose part or a leak. It is not a punishment; it orders the driver to pit so the team can fix or check the car before it becomes dangerous. It is sometimes nicknamed the meatball flag.
The most serious flag: it disqualifies a driver on the spot and orders them to return to the pits immediately. It is rare, and reserved for a serious breach of the rules during a session.
A road car that comes onto the track to lead the field slowly when there is a hazard, such as a crash being cleared. All cars must line up behind it and cannot overtake, which bunches the field back together. Because everyone slows at once, a safety car is often a cheap moment to make a pit stop.
A slowdown without a real safety car on track. Every driver must hold to a set slower time, keeping the gaps between them roughly the same. It is used for smaller hazards, and it lifts once the track is clear.
The white lines that mark the edge of the track. A driver must keep at least part of the car within them. Running all four wheels beyond the white line, usually to carry more speed by taking a corner wide, is exceeding track limits, and it can wipe out a lap time or bring a penalty.
Punishments for breaking the rules or causing an incident, decided by the stewards. Common types:
A car that is a full lap or more behind the leader. When the leaders catch it, the lapped car is shown blue flags and must let them by, because it is not on the same lap and should not hold up the fight at the front. Such a car is also called a backmarker.
Marks a driver who started the race but did not finish it, usually because of a crash or a car failure. On results and stats, DNF explains why a driver has no finishing position for that race.
DNS (Did Not Start) marks a driver who qualified or entered but never started the race, for example due to a problem on the way to the grid. DSQ (Disqualified) marks a driver removed from the results for breaking a rule, so their result is deleted even if they finished.
The stream of data a car records as it laps: speed, throttle, brake, engine revs, gear and more. Reading telemetry lets you see exactly what the car and driver were doing at every point on the track, and comparing two drivers' telemetry shows precisely where one is faster.
How fast the car is travelling, shown in kilometres per hour. On a telemetry chart the speed trace rises on the straights and dips in the corners, so its shape traces the lap. Comparing two drivers' speed shows who carries more through a corner or reaches a higher top speed on a straight.
Throttle is how hard the driver is pressing the accelerator, and brake is how hard they are braking, each shown as a percentage. Together they reveal driving style: where a driver lifts off, how late they brake into a corner, and how early they get back on the power.
Gear is which of the car's gears is engaged (F1 cars have eight, plus neutral). RPM is engine revolutions per minute, a measure of how hard the engine is spinning. Watching them shows how a driver works through a corner and along a straight.