Formula One: Understanding Grand Prix weekends and lap time intrigues

Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsport that features twenty of the best drivers in the world, battling it out over 24 races across the world to crown the world champion. But how does a Grand Prix weekend work?

The series visits over 20 countries each year, from Qatar to Spain and the United States, between March and December.

On a typical Grand Prix weekend, the cars hit the track on Friday for practice, Saturday for qualifying, then Sunday for the race.

Friday

Friday has two one-hour Free Practice (FP) sessions: FP1 in the morning and FP2 in the afternoon. The goal for the teams and drivers in this session is to test their setup, push the limits of the car, and gather some useful data that will help them for the rest of the weekend.

Lap times are often slightly slower on Friday as the cars clear the dirt from the surface and lay down fresh rubber on the track.

Saturday

On Saturday morning, a third and final practice session offers the last opportunity to change the car’s setup.

The weekend then moves into the first competitive session on Saturday afternoon for qualifying. This sets the grid for Sunday’s race, also known as the Grand Prix.

The qualifying hour has three sessions: Q1, Q2, and Q3.

Q1 lasts 18 minutes, where drivers race against the clock to post the fastest lap time. The slowest 5 drivers at the end of the session are eliminated from qualifying and start the race in their respective positions.

The beauty of this format is that some top drivers occasionally suffer shock eliminations in the early parts of qualifying.

This can occur if an incident on a track affects a driver’s lap or if sudden changes in weather approach the circuit. 

Winning from the back of the grid is extremely rare. Only six drivers have ever won 17th or lower—the last of them being Max Verstappen at the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Q2 session is 15 minutes long and eliminates another five drivers, setting positions 15 to 11. The remaining ten cars then progress to the final part of qualifying.

Q3 sets the final grid for the top ten, and the fastest driver in this session will start the Grand Prix in 1st, also known as pole position.

Sunday

The race (Grand Prix) on a Sunday afternoon covers a minimum of 305 km and takes roughly 90 minutes to complete. The top ten finishers are awarded points, which contribute to the world championship standings, and the driver with the most points after the final race wins the title.

25 points are awarded to the winner, down to one point for 10th. An additional point is available to the driver with the fastest lap, but that point is only awarded if the driver finishes the race in the top 10.

Sprint Weekends

The above weekend format is the traditional layout that is used for the majority of races.

However, just to confuse things a little, F1 introduced sprint weekends in 2021 to add to the excitement of the weekend

On a sprint weekend, in which in 2024 there are six, practice one on Friday goes ahead as usual, but instead of going into practice two, they go straight into qualifying for a sprint race on Saturday.

Both the sprint qualifying and the sprint race itself are shortened versions of the typical format, with limited points being handed out to the top eight finishers of the sprint.

On Saturday afternoon, the drivers head back out to qualify again—this time in the traditional format for Sunday’s main Grand Prix.