Formula 1 Guide

🏎️ The basics

Formula 1 is the top level of single-seater racing. In 2026 there are 11 teams with 2 drivers each.
A season has around 24 races (called Grands Prix) on tracks all over the world, from March to December.
There are two championships: one for drivers and one for teams (the Constructors' Championship).
Every team builds its own car to strict rules, so a great car matters as much as a great driver.

Friday: practice sessions. Teams test setups and tyres. Results don't count.
Saturday: qualifying, in three rounds (Q1, Q2, Q3). The slowest cars drop out each round, and the fastest in Q3 starts first, on “pole position”.
Sunday: the race, about 300 km (190 miles), usually just under 2 hours.
Some weekends are “sprint” weekends, with an extra short race on Saturday worth fewer points.

The top 10 finishers score points: 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1.
Flags tell drivers what's happening. Yellow means danger, slow down and no overtaking. Blue means let a faster car past. The chequered flag ends the race.
A red flag stops the race completely, usually after a big crash or bad weather.
Breaking the rules (crashing into someone, speeding in the pit lane) earns time penalties added to a driver's race time.

Dry tyres come in soft (red), medium (yellow) and hard (white). Softer is faster but wears out sooner.
Intermediates (green) and full wets (blue) are for rain.
In a dry race, each driver must use at least two different dry tyres, so everyone has to pit at least once.
A pit stop to change all four tyres takes only about 2–3 seconds.
A Safety Car slows the whole field after a crash. It's a cheap moment to pit, so watch for surprise stops.

Ferrari: the oldest and most famous team, in F1 since the very first season in 1950.
McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull: the big winners of recent years.
Williams, Aston Martin, Alpine, Haas and Racing Bulls: the rest of the established grid.
Audi and Cadillac: the newest names. Both started racing in 2026.
Pick a team or driver to cheer for. Races get a lot more exciting when you care who wins.

▶ Watch and learn: every team explained

Monaco: narrow streets and almost no room to overtake. Qualifying matters most here.
Silverstone (Britain): where the first ever F1 race was held in 1950. Fast, flowing corners.
Spa (Belgium): long, hilly and famous for Eau Rouge, a steep uphill corner taken flat out.
Monza (Italy): the “Temple of Speed”, with the highest average speeds of the year.
Suzuka (Japan): a figure-of-eight track that drivers love.

Before: watch Netflix's Drive to Survive to get to know the drivers and the rivalries.
Saturday: watch qualifying. It's short and shows you who has the fastest car that weekend.
Sunday: watch the start of the race live. The first lap is where the most happens.
During the race: keep an eye on the tyre colours and the gaps between cars to guess who will pit next.
After: watch the official highlights and see if your guesses were right.