The Basics of Formula One Racing

ormula One racing is a weekend event with two practice sessions on Friday, a practice session and qualifying on Saturday, and the race on Sunday. The practice sessions are used for drivers to familiarize themselves with the track and for the crew to make any necessary adjustments to the car. The qualifying is used to determine the way the cars will start in the race.

Formula One qualifying works a little differently that some people would think. Qualifying is broken down into three segments with 7-minute breaks in between. In the first segment, all 22 cars run the qualifying lap. The slowest 6 cars are placed in the 17-22 staring positions. In the second segment, the remaining 16 cars run the qualifying lap. The slowest 6 cars are placed in the 11-16 starting positions. In the final segment, the final 10 cars are racing to be on the pole position, the position that puts the fastest car on the track in the number one starting position. In short, to be in the pole position for a Formula One race you first must be 16th or faster, then 10th of faster, and in the final session, you must be the fastest car on the track.

Thirty minutes prior to race time on Sunday afternoon, the drivers are able to make as many warm up laps that they choose during this thirty minute period. The general rule for the length of the races is set but the smallest number of complete laps over 305km, though there are a few exceptions. Once five sets of lights go green and the set of red lights go off the race begins. With the cars averaging 2 kilometers per liter of fuel, they make many pit stops curing a race. During these pit stops, they will also get fresh tires and the crew can make minor adjustments to the car as needed. The timing and placement of pit stops can be crucial to a Formula Once racecar driver. At the end of the race the First, Second, and Third place drivers are put on a podium and the National Anthem of the winner home country is played. A post race press conference follows.

The current points system that was put into place in 2003 allows points for the top 8 spots. The winner receives 10 points, second place 8 points, third place 6 points, fourth place 5 points, fifth place 4 points, six place 3 points, seventh place 2 points, and eighth place 1 point. The driver that earns the most points in a season earns the spot of the World Champion. The number of Formula One races in a season varies but generally falls somewhere around 18 a year. The season for Formula One racing is 8 months long and runs from the beginning of March to the middle or end of October depending on the number of races.

There is much more to learn about Formula Once racing. This was just a little bit of background of the race weekend, pit stops, points system, and the racing season.